Darkness Endures
by Faust23
Summary: Kallian Tabris slew the archdemon and defeated the blight, but the future she hoped for failed to come to pass. As evil begins to stir on the broken world of Malachor, Kallian sets out for the wider galaxy where new allies and enemies await.
1. No Light, but Rather Darkness Visible

Darkness Endures

Kallian swung her sword down, burying the blade in the skull of one of the rebel soldiers, the edge slicing through metal, flesh, and bone. Placing one foot on the twitching corpse's chest, she ripped her gleaming blade from the soldier's head as droplets of blood leapt through the air in an arc. Gripping her sword in two hands, she turned to her next opponent, a heavy mace raised over his head as he charged, preparing to crush the slight elf before him. Catching the terrible blow on her sword, the impact sending a shock through her arms, she lashed out with a quick uppercut, snapping the man's head back. As he stumbled backward, Kallian darted past him, sliding her blade across his abdomen and gutting him while barreling forward. Dodging another wild attack, she curled her arm around the snarling woman's neck as she stood back-to-back with her and twirled like a ballerina, snapping her neck with a sickening crack.

As the body hit the ground, Kallian paused to observe the battlefield, her eyes sweeping over the plain littered with the bodies of the dead and wounded, the cries and groans of the latter rising pitifully in a cacophony of carnage. Blood stained the green and brown grass red while carrion birds circled in the sky, awaiting the end of the battle so they could finally partake of their grim feast. She watched as the mounted chevaliers ran down entire legions of Fereldan foot soldiers, crushing the men underneath their mounts' hooves as scores fled in terror.

Kallian continued to pant from exhaustion as she pushed the strands of bright red hair from her face, her fiery locks that descended far past her shoulders now a sweaty, tangled mess. She still wore her dragon scale armor forged by Master Wade on the eve of the final battle a few scarce years ago, the rust red color of the plates hiding the crimson blood that covered her body. Stitched into her tattered cloak was the heraldry of the Grey Wardens, the double griffin signifying her status as Warden Commander of Ferelden. The symbolism meant little as the organization had largely disowned her, the combined damage from her unexplained survival after slaying the archdemon, the decision to spare the Architect, which left the Wardens aghast, and increased pressure from the Chantry who would not tolerated an alleged maleficar in such a high position.

Indeed, the Orlesian Empire had used its ties with the Chantry to influence the Divine to call for an Exalted March against the supposed evil controlling Ferelden, a call Orlais accepted shamelessly, no one doubting the ulterior motives behind the invasion. If anything, Orlais' entry into the rebellion backing the renegade nobles controlling most of the ravaged south only benefitted Kallian, as she could now use the lingering hatred many people of Ferelden held for their erstwhile Orlesian overlords to bring otherwise neutral citizens to her side. Her armies pushed back the combined forces of the rebels, Chantry, and Orlais as the loyalist forces penetrated deeper into the restive Bannorn.

The generals of Orlais could see the desperate nature of their campaign and so gathered their forces for a crippling strike on Denerim, hoping to stab a dagger through the heart of the nation. In doing so, they had walked into a trap as armies from Denerim, Amaranthine, Highever, and Redcliffe, the four chief bastions of the loyalist forces, converged on the marching combined forces of the Orlesians and forced them into a corner with their backs to the sea. Desperate men, however, fight with the savagery of cornered animals, and this viciousness was something the warriors of Ferelden could not match.

A sense of danger awoke Kallian from her daze as she narrowly avoided a sword meant to cleave her in two. She unsheathed her curved dagger and stabbed backward blindly, impaling another rebel in the side before she knocked him to the ground with a punishing blow from her forearm. She stabbed down with her sword into the fallen soldier's abdomen as he screamed, his hands being sliced open as Kallian removed the sword he held with a death grip. Leaving him to slowly bleed to death, she observed ranks of cavalry thundering towards her depleted ranks, many soldiers standing with her throwing aside their weapons and abandoning the field. She smirked as she leveled one outstretched palm toward the galloping contingent, watching in satisfaction as a shockwave distorted the air in front of her, sending the chevaliers high into the air before they fell to the ground with the wet thuds of bodies made up of flesh and bone impacting the hard ground.

Numerous soldiers, mostly on the rebel side or neophytes replacing the dead in the ranks of the loyalists, gaped at the display of power. They had all heard the rumors of this small elf woman being a maleficar of terrifying a power, a demon who openly mocked the Maker and perverted his gift, but none could truly comprehend the devastation Kallian could unleash with a simple flick of her wrist. Whispered gossip told in hushed tones told of how this woman, this monster, had committed the ultimate sacrilege of defiling the last remains of Andraste while under the tutelage of an even more sinister evil, a demon who once wiped out every templar in Ferelden's Circle of Magi, a demon known as Revan.

Energy gathered around Kallian as she plunged into the enemy's ranks, cutting apart her opponents and throwing them about as the maelstrom of the Force grew around her. She was like a fierce storm, ripping apart everything in her path and leaving only destruction in her wake as she made her way to the leader of the faltering enemy forces. Her allies followed in her path, mopping up the survivors even as awe and a healthy dose of fear kept them from accomplishing the task efficiently. While the armies of Ferelden once looked to be on the brink of a crushing rout, Kallian's intervention had swung the tide of battle once again their favor as she broke through the dispirited ranks of her opponents, battering them with an unseen gale accompanied by jagged bolts of lightning.

Dropping a final soldier to the ground with a blackened hole where his heart would have been, Kallian looked into the veiled eyes of a faceless templar, one of many who had accompanied another of the slaves of the Chantry who marched with every major army, ostensibly to convince the soldiers of the righteousness of their cause or as a convenient source of morale or so Kallian thought. "Face me and die, accursed maleficar!" the templar snarled, swinging a greatsword into a ready position even as he unleashed an anti-magic burst, the mana draining energy washing over Kallian as her mouth twisted into a savage grin.

She sent a torrent of blue lightning from her fingertips at the unfortunate templar, having learned years ago how to wield the dark side energy without damaging her own body. As the smoking corpse fell, more of the mage hunters charged her only to fall along with their electrocuted companion as a snap hiss and a smell of ozone signaled their deaths. A wave of fear took hold in the minds of the remaining templars as they watched the dark figure, energy pulsing from her body and blazing blade of orange light in her hand, approach with measured steps.

A bead of sweat trickled down the face of a particularly young and inexperienced templar as he looked into the icy blue eyes of the demon before him. He had heard from templars that had survived previous engagements with this maleficar that their powers seemed to have no effect on her but had always dismissed them, believing their words to be the ravings of men and women who had snapped under the great pressures of the battlefield. He had always felt smug and superior at his ability to lord over the Maker damned abominations called mages and never for a moment considered there might be one strong enough to shrug off even the most debilitating magical suppression techniques. Fear froze him in that instant, a fear so deep and pervading that he could not even raise his sword as a quick flick of a lightsaber ended his life, avenging countless crimes committed against those who could not choose how they were born all done in the name of an absent deity too selfish to watch over His own creations.

Kallian casually walked over the dismembered bodies of the templars she slew in a matter of seconds, their severed limbs and decapitated heads still glowing gold from the tremendous heat given off by her lightsaber. Her eyes strayed to the representative of the Chantry, one of their vile priests who used a false religion to rule over others, condemning her people to a life of servitude and despair. "You can kill me maleficar," she said with strength in her voice that belied her intense fear, "but the Maker will surely visit His just and terrible punishment upon you for your sins. You should repent for your fate will be to walk alone in the void, forever cut off from the love of He who is our Maker and His beloved bride, Andraste".

Kallian ignored her, continuing to study the fallen templars as she paced closer to the old woman, the priest's fear increasing with every step she took. Standing before her, she reached out quickly with one deft hand and pulled the old woman close to her face. Kallian's eyes flashed dangerously, a brief spark of yellow marring her icy blue eyes as she sneered, "Where's your Maker now?"

* * *

The Kocari Wilds were silent, the scars of the blight still leaving the swamplands devoid of any life. Even the Chasind Wilders avoided the dead forest now, stories of demons riding screeching black beasts joining the old legends of Flemeth and the more recent darkspawn incursion cautioning the children of the tribes to avoid the cursed place. A mournful wind moaned as it traveled through the bare trees of the forest, their twisted and gnarled forms appearing like grasping hands ready to snatch anyone unlucky enough to find themselves lost in the haunted wood.

A low rumbling broke the silence of the forest as a bright star appeared in the sky, soon becoming an earthshaking whine as the star enlarged into a black shape trailed by two blue tongues of flame. The black shape descended in a clearing of the forest, steam hissing from it as a silvery mist covered the craft, obscuring the dark shape while a shaft of light suddenly shone from the underside. A lone figure stood amidst the light, its features obscured as the brightness shadowed its form. Red eyes watched as the figure turned its shadowed head, seemingly searching for something even as it slowly walked into the forest.

The figure looked upon a small village, only a few fires lighting the many darkened cottages. Assessing the appearance of the town, the figure concluded that this planet was even more primitive than it first thought with no evidence of even the most basic technology present. Although this could cause some difficulties should the natives prove excessively superstitious or fearful of modern technology, finding what the figure searched for should be all the easier since she would be the only one carrying anything traceable by sensors. A sense of anticipation filled the figure, hoping that this world would finally be the one where its search ended after scouring all the graveyard worlds of the Unknown Regions.

Entering the village, the figure observed a human, obviously intoxicated, staggering through the street while swaying dangerously before his eyes caught sight of the figure before him. His eyes widened and his mouth moved rapidly as he screamed unintelligible words. Candles were lit in houses throughout the village as the drunken man continued to cry out in terror, grating on the figure's nerves as it raised its blaster, pulling the trigger with an insane sense of glee. The blaster roared as a single bolt of red energy streaked toward the man, striking him in the heart. The dark figure fired a second shot for good measure, snapping back the dead man's head as a smoking hole was left in his forehead.

More villagers awoke as the blaster's shots shook them from their dreams. Several of the braver ones emerged from their homes, only to be greeted with the sight of a monster standing over the body of one of their number. As more screams shook the village, the figure grew increasingly irritated at the incoherent babbling of this foreign tongue. Firing several more shots to silence the hysterical residents of the village, the figure was suddenly confronted by an enraged man holding a sword of all things. "How quaint," thought the figure as it gripped the man's sword arm like a vice, snapping his wrist so savagely that it hung from only a few torn pieces of skin and muscle. The brave but foolish villager gasped, falling to his knees before a bolt to the head put him out of his misery.

As chaos descended on the ordinarily quiet, sleepy village, the figure concluded that it would be necessary to acquire at least a rudimentary knowledge of this world's language, or interrogations would prove to be an exercise of futility. The figure filed that away under its primary objective but now turned its attention to its new secondary objective: to liquidate this village and leave no evidence of its presence.

* * *

Kallian walked through the gates of the royal palace for the first time in months, her military campaigns requiring that she spend long periods away from the capital. Denerim still bore the scars of the darkspawn siege, new construction replacing the burned out husks of swaths of the city's buildings. The scaffolding that surrounded half-completed structures seemed to be the city's chief architectural feature as scarcely a quarter of the city contained completed, livable buildings. The tall spire of Fort Drakon that once dominated the skyline of Denerim now lay as a pile of rubble, the hard granite used in its construction now being put to use on new projects as the greatest engineers of the present could not rival the skill of the ancients, rendering the tower's reconstruction impossible.

Very few people still lived in Denerim, few survivors escaping the cruel blades of the tainted fiends with most having taken refuge in the royal palace during the crisis while only a handful managed to survive by their own wits and cunning. Kallian's decision to give preference to the alienage elves during the evacuation had left Denerim bearing a substantial elven population proportional to the rather depleted population of humans. Word had traveled fast in the aftermath of the battle that Denerim remained more tolerant and accepting of elven pilgrims, so many of the disadvantaged people who languished in high-walled prisons traveled to Denerim, only increasing the population therein. The human citizens of Denerim generally tolerated living along side their elven neighbors, but a long history of racism and persecution often erupted into violent examples of racial violence even as Alistair preached a doctrine of tolerance and equality.

The hatred was not borne only by the humans as many elves still held deep bitterness over their treatment at the hands of the humans, their unquenchable anger often being solely targeted at Kallian who many elves believed had sold out her own race in order to become the shameless mistress of a human king. This feeling was so widespread that Kallian often felt unwelcome in the primarily elven districts of the rebuilding city and coupled with the mistrust most human citizens felt for her, often made her feel like an outcast in her own city. She was happy that her people now had the kind of freedom she could have only dreamed about when she was young, but she feared that the rabble-rousers would undo everything she had accomplished all for their foolish sense of pride and entitlement. Relations between the two races were tense as it was, and the last thing the city needed were unscrupulous opportunists fanning the flames of racial hatred.

In no area was the divide between the two races more evident than at the very pinnacle of power in Ferelden with Eamon and his supporters clearly disapproving and actively undermining Kallian's policies creating equality between the two races. As Kallian was nominally the Arlessa of Amaranthine and with Shianni as Arlessa of Denerim, elves held two of the primary positions of power in the kingdom with Arl Eamon representing the primary opposition to the changes rapidly coursing through Fereldan society. Teyrn Fergus Cousland of Highever, who had spent much of the war incapacitated under the care of Chasind wilders after Ostagar, represented the more neutral, moderate branch of nobles who remained loyal to the throne. Having little stomach for governing himself, King Alistair tended to be easily influenced either by Kallian or Eamon on certain issues, resulting in a constant war between the two over who would control the ultimate fate of Ferelden.

Lately though, Kallian's grip on power had been slipping due to her deteriorating relationship with Alistair, the lover she had not seen in months. After the final battle with the archdemon, she remembered how in love they were, their resolve to stay together no matter what challenges or obstacles were set in their path. Reality, however, seldom conforms to the rosy dreams the naïve have about their future. The strain of having to fight enemies from all quarters, the influence of politics, and the constant vitriol, either direct or whispered behind closed doors, that an elf did not deserve to sit on a level equal to the king, weighed on her. The condescending attitude many employed when dealing with Kallian enraged her, but the growing doubt Alistair felt about their relationship and his less than strident attempts to protect her from the criticism hurt her even more deeply.

A grimace crossed Kallian's face as she remembered their attempts to have a child together, an ordeal that nearly crushed their fragile relationship. Kallian had always known that the taint significantly reduced the chances of bearing children, another blow the cruel hand of fate had dealt, but she always held out hope that she would finally come across some luck that had dodged her throughout her difficult life. With the Force suppressing the corruption within her, she and Alistair managed to conceive a child, but the pregnancy only resulted in a miscarriage, a trauma that brought the buried rage within Kallian once again to the surface. She remembered Alistair 's face after hearing the news, the grim countenance that evoked even more shame and anger within her. He did not need to say anything, she felt everything through the Force: his disappointment in not having an heir, his concern for the future of the throne of Ferelden, and in the back of his mind, the question of whether he could continue to stay with her, this despised, barren elf.

She had left the capital after that, only making brief visits to check on her family and barely even catching a glimpse of Alistair. The war to maintain Ferelden's independence and to regain lost territory had become an all-consuming obsession to Kallian, perhaps because she wanted to show Alistair that she was indeed worthy of him through her military exploits or perhaps in spite of him, to work off the wrath boiling inside her by slaughtering countless humans.

"And so our illustrious general returns," Eamon said as his grim gaze looked over her. "I understand you murdered another Revered Mother and slaughtered the Chantry contingent. I believe I informed you of the recent breakthrough I made in bringing the Chantry back to Ferelden, a breakthrough that is now meaningless as a result of your actions".

Kallian studied Eamon with an appraising look, his visage looking much older than his years from the stress of a near fatal poisoning, losing his wife, and managing the affairs of a kingdom held together only by the might of its armies. Eamon had arrived more than a day after the archdemon lay dead, the horde of darkspawn scattered to the four corners of Ferelden. He had not abandoned them as Kallian believed at the time, but his tardiness on the field would have still meant their deaths had Revan not intervened, and therefore, she always regarded him with a healthy dose of suspicion. "I couldn't give a damn about those sodding bastards. If they march with the Orlesians, then they will share their fate. Why does it even matter? I've routed the last army that menaced central Ferelden, the Exalted March is broken, and the Orlesians will have no choice but to lick their wounds like the dogs they are and regroup," Kallian said evenly.

"You do understand that the vast majority of our citizens worship the Maker and follow the will of the Chantry?" Eamon said patronizingly.

"Everyone knows that the Chantry is in the pocket of the Empress, the people aren't stupid. They may worship _your_ Maker, but their hate for the Orlesians will keep them on our side," Kallian reasoned.

"Or the fear of you will," Eamon laughed darkly but his face bore no amusement. "It is statements like that, which feed into the Orlesian propaganda against you. _My_ Maker? He is your Maker as well, Kallian. If you must travel around murdering members of the Chantry with forbidden magic, at least try to appear penitent, so you do not further alienate the citizenry".

"Any person who worships the bloody Maker is an ignorant fool," Kallian sneered. "Why worship a God who abandoned His supposed creation. The only higher power in this world is the power of the Force, and I refuse to be another patsy who worships some absentee god all for the sake of some corrupt church".

"Please, we have heard on many occasions of this mysterious Force, and have no wish to hear of this heathen religion further," Eamon spoke dismissively.

Kallian opened her mouth to retort, but Alistair silenced her with a wave of his hand, "Please friends, can we not be civilized? We've won a great battle and yet we bicker like unruly children. The Chantry is aligned with Orlais, but killing their representatives only hurts our cause and increases support for the enemy. Kallian, please refrain from such actions in the future".

"As you wish, your majesty," she said as she crossed her arms, still not getting over her surprise at how Alistair seemed to slip effortlessly into the persona of a wise ruler even if reality did not back up appearances.

"Fergus, you had something to report?" Alistair asked, gesturing to the brown haired man who still looked haggard years after suffering extensive injuries.

"Ah, yes your majesty. Some of the scouts spying on enemy lines in the south near the Kocari Wilds have been hearing an increasing number of rumors about talking darkspawn in the vicinity. Along with the reports, several villages have been massacred in the general area with the poor slobs apparently bearing some strange wounds," Fergus stated, concern showing on his pale face as his sister stood vigilant behind him.

"What kind of wounds?" Alistair asked as Kallian listened intently.

"Like nothing our scouts have ever seen, small holes that seem to burn through flesh and bone. What is even more troubling is the precision of the wounds, either straight through the heart or in the center of the forehead. Some who have seen the Arlessa's victims immediately thought weapons like hers might be the cause, but the wounds seem more like damage caused by an arrow than a sword," Fergus conceded, shooting a furtive glance at Kallian.

Alistair also looked at Kallian with a knowing look, the same conclusion being formed in each of their minds. They had never told anyone of Revan's true origins or the existence of nations that made up all the stars in the sky, and now if what they believed proved to be correct, another traveler from those distant stars now walked the surface of this world once again. "Talking darkspawn? Sounds familiar…I wonder what person among us spared the abomination known as the Architect and allowed it to continue building an army in the Deep Roads?" Eamon asked sarcastically.

"We don't know if these reports or true or not. It would be wise to send a group to ascertain the cause of the murdered villagers," Alistair mused, shaking his head.

"I'll go," Kallian said flatly as Alistair looked at her with an expression of shock.

"But…but you just got back after being away for so long. I think you should stay for at least a short time, it's not like the darkspawn are going anywhere…although I kind of wish they would," she said with his signature awkward smile but with a pleading look in his eye.

Kallian's teeth clenched as she glimpsed a flash of the old Alistair, but she held firm to her resolve, "If it's a problem with darkspawn then a Grey Warden will be needed to track them, and since you and I are the only Grey Wardens in Ferelden after the Order washed their hands of us, it must be me. If the murderer is something else entirely…I am also the logical choice given my…unique abilities".

Alistair looked as if he wanted to argue, but he simply sighed and nodded, "Kallian…if you would, I'd like to speak in private about some…pressing issues".

Kallian reluctantly agreed, knowing that whatever he had in mind was not going to end well. As the nobles and advisors filed out, Kallian found herself confronted by Fergus' younger sister, Elissa Cousland. She had apparently escaped the assault by the treacherous Rendon Howe on Highever castle a few weeks before the fateful battle at Ostagar though she was forced to leave her parents behind at the mercy of the animals Howe kept in his employ. She had spent most of the war hiding in scattered villages along the coast before inciting a rebellion in Highever against the tyrannical rule of Howe, wresting it from his forces' control only days before the siege on Denerim. When Fergus became Teyrn of the ravaged city, she oversaw its reconstruction while her brother continued a long recovery that still continued to this day. They had both lost family to that snake Howe, but that did not mean they felt any kinship with each other, quite the opposite in fact.

She knew of the furtive looks Elissa sent Alistair's way whenever he entered a room even if she was skilled enough to hide her glances from even the quickest of eyes, her mind a book Kallian could page through at her leisure. She also knew of the behind-the-scenes maneuvering Eamon engaged in, his attempts to arrange a marriage between the king and the Teyrn's sister obvious to anyone who even remotely cared. It would not have bothered her, the girl's obvious affection being only a trifling annoyance, but the close relationship they developed and the obvious friendliness between them disturbed her. She knew Alistair would never stray as long as he was with her, but the difficulties of the past few years had driven them apart, and perhaps he would eventually cast her aside for a woman without Kallian's flaws.

"Your victory over the Orlesians was quite impressive, the strategy and tactics you employed peerless. This victory will be recorded in the history of Ferelden as the beginning of the restoration of our great nation from the damage wrought by the traitorous Howe and Loghain," Elissa complimented as Kallian felt a degree of nervousness coming from her.

"Yes, I am indeed impressive in almost every way," Kallian joked before turning serious, "Enough of this pointless dithering. You have an ulterior motive in speaking to me, so stop dancing around and just say it".

"Very direct as always. Very well. Recently, I have observed that the…relationship you have with the king has hit a rough patch. I wanted to ask you where you think your relationship with his majesty is going?" Elissa asked, all pretenses gone from her voice.

"I love Alistair, that's all there it to it," she said flatly, annoyed that the woman had the gall to broach this subject with her. "What's it to you?"

"So you plan to become queen?" the noble asked without hesitation.

"If that is what it takes to be with him, then yes," Kallian answered glibly.

"You understand how difficult this will be for many to accept? The people are already close to rioting because of the reforms you forced through pertaining to the rights of elves. How will they react to your crowning?" she asked, her eyes studying the small elf before her.

"Difficult for them to accept or difficult for you to accept? Anyway, I don't really give a damn what anyone thinks of me or my actions. I do what is necessary to accomplish my goals, and I certainly won't let anyone get in my way," she said angrily.

"Do not misunderstand me, I have utmost respect for you, as after all, you slew Howe and avenged all his victims including my family. I know that you and the king have not been married up until this point because of this very issue, you cannot deny it. Despite how strong or able you may be, you cannot change the fact that you're an elf. Most will simply look at you and see only your race. It is unfortunate but true," Elissa stated with a little more force in her voice.

"Most people, huh? I'm not a fool Elissa, I know all about Eamon's little schemes. He thinks he's so smooth moving around behind my back, but no one can hide anything from me," Kallian said scathingly.

"I know you are no fool, and that is why I wish for you to see reason. Ferelden has recovered much since the blight devastated the land, but the country is still fragile with even the slightest pressure coming to bear on it threatening to shatter the nation. The Chantry and many of the rebel nobles are willing to accept Alistair's rule as long as you step aside, and with the people already so wary of you, it will do much to solidify his rule," Elissa urged.

"If they stand in my way I will cut them down. I will tolerate no opposition. In the past I always solved these issues with my blade, and the future will be no different," Kallian answered with a dark look coming over her face.

"That may work for a time, but what of the future beyond both your and his majesty's lives? The king will need an heir, and I have heard of the unfortunate circumstances that surrounded your own child…" Elissa stated as Kallian's eyes widened.

Kallian slapped her across the face as she bore a stricken look, Elissa holding her cheek in shock as she looked upon the pained expression emanating from those icy blue eyes. "How dare you…you have no right to speak of my child or to use his death for your own purposes. Is this the level you are willing to sink to in order to get me out of the picture?"

Several of the servants looked on with veiled glances as they observed the confrontation. Many of the human servants were in disbelief that an elf could strike a noble with impunity, the old ways still stubbornly clinging to their bigoted minds. Elissa was more surprised than angry, taken aback that the normally stoic woman would express such visible emotion. "I'm sorry…to cause you pain was not my intent. I simply wanted you to understand the gravity of the problem before us, the fact that the king has no one to follow him in case the worst should happen. I should not have spoken of it," she said, recovering quickly with genuine remorse coloring her words.

"You think I don't know that? I know better than anyone…I see it every time I look into his eyes, the disappointment and fear for the future. I don't want to look upon his face and see that expression, so I stay away, but every time I return, I am confronted by it again. You and Eamon see only duty and politics, and you don't understand that I _lost_ _my child_. A child is not some prize to be gained or a political tool to be kept around until needed, a child is a product of the love between two people, a gift to be treasured and cared for. You can't understand how I feel…pray you never have to".

Kallian stormed away, not even allowing Elissa to respond as she continued to stand rooted to the spot. Kallian held no overt dislike for her, quite the opposite in fact. She respected her skill in battle and her ability to rally the people as she did in taking back Highever. They had both lost family to Howe, so they shared a bond of vengeance. In another life, they could have perhaps grown close, but circumstances often determine the relationships one will share with another. Whenever Kallian saw Alistair and the Elissa together, she felt that maybe they belonged together as they were both nobles, kind hearted, and most importantly, human. This doubt constantly ate away at her, making her feel that everything that she and Alistair went through during the blight had been for nothing, a dream that could not possibly be realized, a child's naïve fantasy. She even heard that Duncan had planned to recruit in Highever had his trip to Denerim been unsuccessful, so it could have possibly been Elissa who joined the Grey Wardens while Kallian wasted away in a dungeon awaiting execution for her supposed crime. Perhaps, the two would have grown close and ruled as a beloved pair of rulers after deposing Loghain, the rebellion never occurring if the darkness within Kallian never had the chance to awaken.

* * *

Bailey perked up as soon as Kallian entered her private quarters, the mabari now residing with Alistair most of the time. She kneeled down to greet the dog, hearing Alistair step into the room and close the door behind him. "I saw that incident with Elissa just now…can't you at least try to get along with our allies," Alistair said in a stern but bemused tone.

"She said something she shouldn't have. I can't help it if all the sodding nobles in this prison-like palace all try to do their best to annoy me," Kallian said dismissively.

"Well I see you're still the same as always," Alistair said with a wry grin, pulling her close and brushing a kiss along her face as Kallian turned aside, pushing him away quickly.

"Not right now," she said as she avoided his face that had the look of a kicked puppy. "You have something to speak to me about?"

"Well actually, what I wanted to talk about concerns exactly this. What happened to us Kallian? During the blight, being with you everyday was like bliss, but when it ended we just drifted further and further apart. I don't want to lose you Kallian, I love you too much to ever let go of you, but I wonder if you still feel the same way about me," he asked with a pained expression as Kallian gaze dropped to the floor.

"I still feel the same way about you," she murmured, avoiding his penetrating gaze.

He grabbed her shoulders suddenly and brought his face close to hers, "No, I want you to look me in the eye and tell me how you really feel".

"She looked into his amber eyes, the eyes that held so much warmth and bright fire now dulled by the weight of overseeing a crumbling nation and said, "I love you, I love you just as much as when I told you for the first time in the Deep Roads".

"Then why are you avoiding me? You leave for months at a time and even now when you return, you resolve to immediately leave again. If you love me then why not stay here with me?" he asked, confusion marking his features.

"I want to…but it's to painful to be with you. Seeing you now will just make it more agonizing when the end comes. I don't think I can bear it," Kallian admitted.

"What? Why? When the end comes…what do you mean?" he asked.

She looked at him with a flash of anger in her eyes, her teeth gritting as she spat, "Don't play innocent, you know exactly what I mean. Every time I look at you, I am reminded of that terrible day. I can't not look at you and still see it, the pain, anguish, and disappointment. They won't let me forget it. I've tried and tried to make this work, to disregard the constant whispers and false looks of sympathy, to force this Force forsaken country to accept us, but some tasks are to great even for me".

Alistair eyes shone with shock and regret at her bitter words as he responded slowly, "Kallian…I never blamed you for what happened, it's not your fault. We knew about the risks of two Grey Wardens being together, if anything it's my fault for pressuring you. If anyone brings up anything untoward about our being together, I'll make sure they never speak out of turn again".

Kallian shook her head sadly, "You're saying all the right things, but that's not really what you feel in your heart. I can feel the darkness everyone holds in the very depths of their heart, and even if you haven't realized yet, deep down you already know that one day you will have to cast me aside. It won't be others who force us apart in the end…it will be you".

"That's not true! I will never do that to you, I swear it!" he said forcefully as he held her close. "Being king is not so important that I will break the promise I made to you all those years ago, to protect you and never let anything hurt you!"

"To keep that promise, you may have to let me go, lest you cause me more suffering in the future," she continued as she tried desperately to contain the torrent of emotion threatening to spill forth.

"Are you telling me to end this between us?" Alistair asked in disbelief.

"No, I am merely telling you what cannot be avoided. There is nothing I want more than to be with you, but…it seems that destiny will never let me gain the happiness I desire," Kallian said, even as her mind balked at the words that flowed uncontrollably from her mouth.

"Kallian, destiny has nothing to do with it…we make our own destinies, remember? We'll make this work somehow…we've gotten through worse scrapes before. If you want to take a break for awhile…to get both our feelings together, let's talk about this when you get back from the south," Alistair suggested as Kallian could only nod numbly.

"You're right, I let self-pity cloud my judgment for a second there. We choose our own fates through our actions, but as I said…sometimes even the strongest person cannot shape events exactly as they wish. I learned that when I could not save our child. I fear that I will not be able to save our relationship either," she said as she turned away, her face emotionless as she crushed all of the strong feelings within deep inside her the lowest reaches of her soul.

Alistair could only look on, filled with self-loathing over suggesting they take a break, knowing all to well the doubts within his heart that hurt the one he loved. He was such a coward, stringing her along when he knew what she said had been correct all for his own satisfaction. Eamon had been constantly persuading him to abandon Kallian both for his own good and the good of the nation, but he knew his duty better than anyone. When the time came to finally end it though, he had run away, putting it off just like he knew he would, just like the craven fraud he knew he was. Revan had been right all those years ago, he was a fool, a fool that would rather hurt the one he loved than go against the system he claimed to despise.

* * *

Kallian watched the faint rays of light emerging from the thick foliage move slowly as the sun dipped lower in the sky, twilight beginning to cast a shadow over the search party. They had discovered several more massacres at different villages around where the town of Lothering once stood, all of the victims bearing the same strange burn wounds that were so disconcerting due to their uniformity and precision. "Can't believe they have us wandering around out here looking for talking darkspawn in these rebel-infested wilds. Serves the bastards right I say joining with those damn Orlesians," one particularly loud and outspoken members of the party observed.

Kallian readied a retort when a sense of danger had her dropping to the ground. An arrow flew through the air and struck the man in the throat, a gurgling scream of surprise barely escaping his opened mouth as blood poured from it. As he fell to the ground, more arrows emerged unseen from the thick woods, striking certain members of the party with precision while Kallian wondered why their attackers were not putting on a furious onslaught to kill them all. Her unspoken question was answered as her senses alerted her to killing intent from behind, causing her to activate one lightsaber and spin, bisecting one of her guards as she attempted to stab her with an outstretched sword. As the remainder of her loyal followers fell with arrows emerging from their bleeding bodies, the apparent traitors fell upon her, desperately trying to flank her to get around the hissing energy sword that treated metal swords and armor like paper. More arrows were aimed at the snarling elf as she gathered the Force around her to stop the projectiles in mid air. Still more struck her attackers by accident either through carelessness or intentional lack of regard for their comrades well being.

She stabbed another of her opponents as she reversed her blade and shoved it backwards, watching the shock on the man's face as his insides burned away. She laughed at the calls of 'knife ear' and other insults that rained down on her from fallen enemies, taking pleasure from each traitorous bastard she killed. Throwing her saber in a spinning arc through the thick trees toward the multiple presences she felt hidden there, Kallian heard cries of shock and pain as the energy weapon sliced through the unsuspecting ambushers. Hearing another strangled gasp behind her and feeling a presence she had not felt since the siege of Denerim, she whipped around and observed a caramel-skinned elf struggling to remove an ornate dagger from the chest of the corpse he held by the neck. Her eyes widened and words left her mouth before she could even think, "Zevran! What are you doing here?"

Zevran finally managed to extricate his dagger from the corpse, letting the body fall unceremoniously to the ground as he flashed a brilliant smile at the young woman, "Kallian, my dear! You are far more beautiful than when I last laid eyes on you. Simply ravishing, the effect of maturity I see".

"Are you here to try and kill me again?" she said suspiciously, ignoring the flattery completely.

"You wound me, my dear! I hoped to see you in Denerim, but to my dismay, I was told that you only left days earlier. Most fortuitous that I would catch up to you now though I have no doubt you could handle these weaklings yourself," he said beaming as Kallian narrowed her eyes.

"Yes, most fortuitous…I haven't seen you since we lost contact during the battle. Alistair thought that you died, and I might have held out a small hope, but I was pretty sure someone with your skills survived," Kallian said with the most invisible of smiles.

"I see your dark sense of humor has not changed despite your appearance. Did you grow your hair long for Alistair, as I must say that it looks simply marvelous! How is our naïve, little templar? Not so naïve any more I hope?" he said with a laugh as Kallian's face fell.

"No, not so naïve any more, none of us are," she said sadly as Zevran's grin disappeared from his face.

"Bad news I take it," he said as Kallian nodded.

"The worst kind, but I'd rather not speak of it. I'd rather not speak of it ever if I have the choice," she answered grimly.

"Are you still together? I knew he was an idiot, but I did not think any man could be so foolish as to cast aside such a treasure," Zevran spoke in disbelief, thinking back to the awkward little romance the two had shared so long ago.

"Technically we're still together, but we're taking a break from our relationship for the moment…not that there has been much of a relationship over the past year," Kallian admitted. "That's not really the worst part though, but I won't get into that. So what happened to you after the battle ended?"

Zevran continued to maintain his look of concern but made no comment, having already heard the details from spies within the Crows over the tragedy that had befallen Kallian, "After I said my farewells to Revan, I returned to the Crows to take care of some unfinished business. That took up a rather large span of time, but now I finally came by the time to reconnect with some old friends, hence my presence in Ferelden".

As the two were talking, a shadowed figure observed them from afar through the scope of a sniper rifle. The figure observed with interest the lightsaber held in the female's hand, a female of a species the figure had never encountered. The figure brushed aside any concerns about the various dissimilarities of this race to humans or other comparable species, as the placement of vital organs probably varied little from the typical human. Slowly approaching without making a sound, the figure continued to approach the pair as its finger continued to brush the trigger of its blaster rifle.

"So you went back to the Crows…and you're telling me you're not here to assassinate me? It seems like just about everyone else is: the Orlesians, the Chantry, my own people, my own government…" she trailed off as Zevran smirked.

"My dear, I swore an oath to follow you, did I not? I am nothing if not a man of my word," he laughed.

A renewed sense of danger woke Kallian to her surroundings as she looked to a wounded assassin, blood leaking from an arrow wound, raising a dagger by its blade as he moved to throw it straight toward the back of Zevran's head. Zevran's eyes widened as he saw Kallian react, his own reflexes causing him to turn quickly to the danger just as a red bolt of energy slammed into the man's skull, blasting him back as a red vapor hung in the air.

Kallian turned to the source of the blast behind her and beheld a creature slowly approaching from the woods bearing a strange, black weapon, a creature like none she had ever seen. "Query: Why is a Jedi residing on this backwater world far removed from the Republic?" the creature asked with a synthesized voice, its tone refined and intelligent".

"What in the Force's name are you supposed to be?" an incredulous Kallian asked.

"Statement: I believe I asked a question first Jedi. Answer or I will resort to more coercive tactics," the creature answered, seeming almost gleeful at the possibility of resistance.

"First of all, I'm not a Jedi. Second of all, I've never been off this world, but given your knowledge of the Jedi I assume you have been," she said warily.

"Commentary: If you are not a Jedi then why do you carry a lightsaber, unless you are Sith, and if so, you must be eliminated".

"What do you have against the Sith?" Kallian asked with interest.

"Explanation: Nothing. The Sith want what any rational meatbag would want: the power to assassinate anyone they choose at any time. My master simply tasks me with their termination, so that is what I must accomplish".

Both Kallian and Zevran reacted to surprise at this, the words of an erstwhile companion returning to their mind, "Who was your master exactly?"

The creature looked pensive for a moment like it was deep in thought before replying, "Answer: My master is Revan, meatbag. Commentary: My master once committed mass atrocities that still warm my behavior core when I recall them. Oh, how I long for the days when we slaughtered organic meatbags together, finding new and creative ways to harm the innocent for our mutual pleasure".

Kallian began to feel that this creature was not entirely sane as she listened to it pine for the days when mass slaughter was the norm. "I knew Revan, she taught me how to use the Force".

The creature's glowing red eyes seemed to bore into her own, "Query: Then my master indeed visited this world? I have scoured the countless planets she visited on her quest to finish off the faction of meatbags known as the Sith, but found no sign. Does my master yet remain?"

"She left over three years ago, but I don't remember Revan being quite as bloodthirsty as you describe…are you sure it's the same Revan?" she asked, trying to imagine how much worse Revan was before she joined them.

"Qualification: There is only one Revan, and she is my master. I admit that I do not believe my master truly knew who she was most of the time, and the amnesia sadly dulled some of her more murderous impulses," the creature said with almost a tinge of sadness.

"Huh, I think you may have some competition for Revan's affections, Zevran. This thing, whatever it is, seems fairly obsessed with her not to mention it being one archdemon short of a blight," Kallian whispered.

"Yes it would seem so. I knew that she had another assassin traveling with her through the vast expanses between the stars, but I never quite imagined him to be like…this," Zevran commented.

"Clarification: I am indeed an assassin droid whose primary function is to burn holes through any organic meatbag my master sees fit to have eliminated. I also possess excellent hearing," the creature spoke up with annoyance.

"What's a droid?" Kallian asked with interest, "Is that your race or something".

The creature seemed to blink as the red lights of its eyes flashed for a second before it spoke in a patronizing tone, "Commentary: Is this what a superior, mechanical being of my stature is reduced to, explaining the finer points of synthetic transcendence to these ignorant, primitive meatbags? Explanation: A droid is a sentient mechanical being mostly used for the more dull and mindless labor throughout the galaxy. I on the other hand, am far above these lesser droids not to mention pathetic meatbags, created by my master to hunt down targets and terminate them".

Kallian would have been more eager to learn more, but the droid's condescending attitude quickly grated on her nerves, "Stop calling me meatbag! I have a name you know, it's Kallian!"

The droid ignored her objection to the term and proceeded only to further irritate her, "Query: I am sorry that you object to your meatbag status, meatbag, perhaps you would prefer liquidious fleshbag?"

Kallian sighed, giving up on reasoning with the obviously psychotic droid, "Well, now that I've told you my name, why don't you give me yours?"

"Disclosure: I am HK-47, a skilled protocol and combat droid. I am quite skilled at linguistics and cultural exchange, and should such exchanges turn violent…I am quite skilled at personal combat".

"Pleased to make your acquaintance, HK-47. I am Zevran. I had the pleasure of traveling with your master for a time. It seems we share a profession, how marvelous," he said as he offered a hand in greeting.

HK looked at the offered hand for a time before finally taking it, Zevran grimacing as the droid nearly crushed every bone in his hand. "Statement: The pleasure is all mine, meatbag. If you would like, we could test our respective skill in assassination protocols against each other, which would surely give me even more pleasure".

"I'm afraid I must decline, my friend," Zevran said as he gingerly rubbed his hand. "I'm sure someone of your…unique sensibilities would take such a game far more seriously than I would prefer.

HK rolled his shoulder joints as if imitating a shrug, "Statement: Pity. Now the atmosphere is growing rather morbid…perhaps we should find something to kill to cheer ourselves up".

"If all of Revan's companions were like this, I can kind of understand why she was such a crazy bitch," Kallian wondered aloud.

"Threat: Kindly refrain from insulting my master meatbag, or you will find your organs spilling out upon the ground," HK spoke with a tinge of anger as he towered over Kallian.

She glared at the droid, arching her neck to stare up into his grim visage, his height far above that of an average human and approaching that of a qunari. Just as she was about to voice a scathing retort, a group of rebels walked into the clearing, surprise evident on their faces as the observed the carnage before them along with the three strange figures stand amongst the scattered corpses. Kallian did not even give them a moment to take in the situation before them as she unleashed a blast of blue lightning, leaving the rebels a smoking, twitching pile of blackened corpses.

HK gave her a sidelong look after this display of power and deadpanned, "Statement: Engaging in unprovoked displays of indiscriminate violence? I like you. Observation: Perhaps we will get along better than I first judged, meatbag".

"Uh, thanks…I guess," Kallian said, not exactly feeling privileged to be approved of by the sociopathic droid. "Since Revan left some time ago…does that mean you're going to return to the stars to continue the search?"

"Answer: Indeed, massacring the babbling meatbags on this world gave me a thrill in my behavior core I have not felt for some time, but sadly, my mission compels me to continue on," he answered in a wistful tone.

"If you're leaving this world, do you think you might take me with you. I'd like to see Revan again…to continue learning about the Force," Kallian asked.

"My dear Kallian, I know you have made some questionable decisions in the past, sparing me being one of those I admit, but do you truly believe it is a good idea to travel with a machine created for the purpose of murder that seems to enjoy it far too much?" Zevran asked incredulously.

"Objection: The only difference between us as a machine created for the purpose of killing and an organic meatbag raised for the purpose of killing is that I am much more efficient and skillful at it. I take pleasure in it only what any being would derive satisfaction from plying a trade they excel at," HK repudiated. "Answer: As for the previous question, if a meatbag such as yourself wishes to follow my master, I see no reason to refuse such a request, other than your being an organic meatbag but such disabilities can be overcome".

"Well if you're going Kallian, then I am certainly tagging along," Zevran said as Kallian looked at him in surprise. "It will be a pleasure to see Revan again, and I also cannot in good conscience leave you alone with our bloodthirsty friend here".

"Request: I only ask that both of you refrain from acting in a manner similar to the tortured individuals unable to overcome their various personality conflicts that followed my master before. If you do, I may put a blaster to either my behavior core or your heads and pull the trigger, though it will most likely be the latter," the droid said seriously, and Kallian knew not whether to laugh or to be concerned as they took their first step on a new journey.

* * *

**A/N: Well, I decided to start a sequel to my previous story. The original idea for this was more of an interlude or a what-if scenario about HK-47 in the Dragon Age world, but I largely abandoned that plan and decided to incorporate it into the sequel. I originally intended the first story to be more of a tragedy, but those intentions were obviously lost in the happy ending of that story, so I decided to reintroduce the tragic elements in the opening chapter of this story. I do not have a coherent plan for how this story will go, so I do not know how often updates will be uploaded. I have not played KOTOR II for a long while, so I will have to brush up on the plot. Also, thanks to Inverness and Gogolu for the reviews of the the last chapter of the previous story. **


	2. The Truth Shall Make You Free

Kallian sat at a table in the middle of the hold, her hand trying to grasp the holographic displays as light played over her fingers. She watched as various symbols and shapes passed over the displays, writing out a language she did not understand. Reading had never been her strong point anyway, life in the alienage tending to require a more practical set of skills, so she thought it was just as well. Apparently countless languages flourished on the many worlds of the galaxy with the most prominent of these being Galactic Basic. She had asked HK-47 if he perhaps could teach her, but the look he gave her reminded her of the most contemptuous looks she had received from the shems before he said something about being an assassination droid, not a meatbag's personal translator.

The only other living thing on board, well not really living, the only other sentient being on board was T3-M4, another droid that had no other means of communicating other than a series of unintelligible beeps, whistles, and other assorted noises. This made for rather poor company, as even though T3 was quite conversational, Kallian could not understand anything he said though she could sometimes make out his feelings on a matter. Both droids bickered constantly with HK constantly threatening his smaller companion with rather descriptive methods of execution though T3 seemed unimpressed, offering scathing retorts in a series of undecipherable beeps.

The two droids both amazed and confused Kallian, both having no presence in the Force but with rich and varied personalities that belied such a sense of lifelessness. They were not like darkspawn, the walking corruption that felt like a festering hole in the light that bound the universe together, but simply an absence like any other inanimate object. They were obviously intelligent and alive in a certain sense though, so their presence in the Force like any other inanimate object disturbed her greatly. She believed it must have something to do with the nature of their creation, being completely constructed by other sentient beings, true golems in that sense. She did not think that their creation involved the removal of another's soul as on her world at least as far as HK explained, which remained very little, so she wondered what kind of soul lay underneath their metallic skin.

The enclosed space of this starship, the Ebon Hawk, the same ship Revan once told her had been more of a home to her than any world, gave her a claustrophobic feeling, the lack of openings to the outside world making her feel trapped and imprisoned. Sitting in the cockpit with a wide view of the stars stretching off to eternity did little to alleviate this feeling having learned that the great void was even more empty than she could imagine, having no air to breathe like a great ocean without any water. HK had regaled her with the horrors, or in his case the great pleasure, of explosive decompression, of how her body would freeze and crack and her blood boil away if the ship ruptured and she had no protective suit. Needless to say, it did not seem like the most pleasant of ends.

She had not seen Zevran in a while with the assassin apparently investigating the ship though there was rather little to discover given its size. She chuckled a little to herself remembering his face as the craft left Ferelden, his discomfort obvious as the craft leapt at a near-vertical angle to the sky. The sensation this time around lacked the intensity of flying with Revan whether the tremendous force put on the passenger remained due to Revan's piloting skills or an inherent characteristic of her fighter. Zevran excused himself after they entered a method of travel HK called hyperspace, the stars stretching into bright lines as the tremendous speed crushed the two elves into their seats, the strain of the acceleration apparently too much for him. Kallian felt fairly sick as well, a strange nausea coming over her and stubbornly refusing to improve even as the hours of their travel went on.

"So HK, you probably knew Revan longer than I did…what can you tell me about her?" Kallian asked the droid as he remained motionless in a small storage room except for the constant swiveling of his head.

His head rotated to her as his red eyes fixed her with a impenetrable stare, "Statement: My master excelled at the creative dismemberment of organic meatbags. In happier times, atrocities on a massive scale were the norm. Sadly, those days ended when that usurper Malak betrayed her. If I had known what that meatbag had planned, I would have eviscerated him right then!"

"Revan loved Malak though. He was her best friend, and she cared about him more than anything," Kallian objected.

"Query: What is this notion of love your flapping, fleshy mouth attempts to articulate? Definition: 'Love' is making a shot to the knees of a target 120 kilometers away using an Aratech sniper rifle with a tri-light scope. Commentary: Obviously Revan 'loved' Malak as she would have surely taken the shot after the meatbag's betrayal. I understand the treacherous fool later died at her hand, as it should have been".

Kallian was speechless after hearing this. She had spent time around some truly despicable people, but no one had ever held such a skewed moral outlook as this psychotic droid. "How is…whatever you said love?" she exclaimed incredulously. "Love is caring about someone, wanting to be with them, be intimate with them. Do you really not understand that?"

"Observation: Our two statements of love mesh well. I see no conflict between them," HK offered in a positive tone. "Explanation: No act is more intimate than the act of killing, the snuffing out of a life through violent means is the closest one can ever get to another. I have felt love on numerous occasions, looking into the fearful eyes of some blubbering meatbag as I burned a hole in its skull, hearing them beg as I lovingly twist their necks around, meditating on the twitching face of one of my unfortunate former masters as electricity courses through his body".

"And I thought I had a peerless knowledge of love," Zevran interrupted, appearing from the direction of the medical room. "It seems our rather brutal friend is more well versed than even one so experienced as I".

"Don't start encouraging him, Zevran," Kallian said loudly.

"Statement: I need no encouragement in the execution of my primary function. There is nothing I enjoy more than sharing my love with organic meatbags," the droid answered with enthusiasm.

"Enough of this! We're getting off topic here. I asked about Revan, if you recall. What was she like during the war, or after?" Kallian asked, growing irritated with the impossible machine.

"Query: Of which war do you speak? The Mandalorian Wars, the Jedi Civil War, the Jedi Purge, or the countless small conflicts continuing on many worlds even as we waste time dithering?" the droid spoke with disdain.

"The Mandalorian Wars, she always spoke of them, but she never revealed much," Kallian said.

"Answer: I have no knowledge of Revan during that war that is not readily available through numerous, widely-available sources. I had not yet been created at that point," HK said as Kallian fumed.

"You're impossible! Tell me about the Jedi Civil War then...or let me guess, you know nothing of it!" Kallian exclaimed in disgust.

"Explanation: Changing mission parameters during that war are what resulted in my creation. The Jedi led by Revan against the Mandalorians returned to eliminate their brethren, or convert them in order to strengthen the Republic by destroying it. I was tasked with eliminating those who threatened the stability of the Republic along with Jedi who proved to be particularly troublesome".

"Strengthen the Republic by destroying it…that makes no sense! Revan said she saved her homeland; why would she lie!" Kallian asked in confusion.

"Qualification: The threat of the True Sith necessitated strengthening the Republic to withstand the coming invasion. My master only killed when necessary much to my chagrin, eliminating only those who made the worlds of the Republic and its government weaker. She converted Jedi to her cause rather than simply killing them in order to not waste resources. She spared worlds important to industrial production and razed those with parasitic or antagonistic relationships to it. The ultimate aim was to prepare the many worlds of the Republic for war".

"She took actions similar to your own with respect to Ferelden, Kallian. Revan was always practical but very idealistic if you dug a little deeper," Zevran commented. "You both are very alike in some ways: beauty, martial skill, charisma, shall I go on?"

"Please do, there's nothing I love more than empty flattery," Kallian answered with a smirk.

"Commentary: I do not know the death toll inflicted by this meatbag, but such a number would need to be substantial to ever compare to my master," the droid commented much to Kallian's chagrin.

Zevran chuckled at this before responding, "Believe me my violent friend, I have seen first hand only the slightest fraction of the body count Kallian has left in her wake, and the number is quite the marvel".

"Advisement: Population analysis of the primitive world where you both hail from indicated that the total number of sentient beings make up less than one percent of total casualties attributable to General Revan not including later casualties inflicted by her under the guise of Darth Revan up to the present," HK added seriously.

"Then I guess I have some killing to do if I want to make a dent in that number," Kallian said jokingly, a rather poor choice of words considering the audience.

"Statement: Indeed. It is my sincerest wish that we could end this pointless conversation and prepare to engage in pure, unadulterated violence. We can begin to increase your total when we land at our next destination if my master was kind enough to leave any organic meatbags alive to kill".

* * *

Their destination was a planet deep within the Unknown Regions, its gray and red color showing a world devoid of life. Compared to her homeworld with its azure oceans and brown and green continents, this world seemed particularly inhospitable. The darkness emanating from the world made Kallian uneasy as nothing she ever felt compared to the overwhelming evil surrounding the barren planet.

Setting foot on its surface, a vast sandy plain stretched out before her with only a single twisted structure blocking an otherwise clear view of the horizon. She had replaced her dragonscale armor, the elaborate full plate worse than useless against the energy weapons of the people of the stars given the effect it had on her speed. Searching the ship, she managed to procure some musty smelling robes apparently left behind by Revan or one of her companions. Her appearance was not perfect, but at least she did not look completely ridiculous, as the last person to wear the clothes had been on the smaller side, most likely Revan who only stood a few inches higher than her. She still wore the tattered, dark cloak Leliana had given her years ago rather than the brown robe that completed the knitted garment, wanting at least one part of her former ensemble to remain.

Zevran had opted to keep some of his green armor, only removing the breastplate and tassets around his upper leg to improve his agility. Strapping the leather belts around his chest above the fabric of his tunic and donning the brown robe Kallian left with the sleeves removed, the young woman had to admit he looked quite dashing and apparently he thought the same given his near constant preening. He also left his signature sword and dagger behind, taking a spare blaster rifle along with something called a vibroblade to replace them. She had no idea if Zevran even knew how to use these weapons, but she had the vague notion that swords would do little good out here in the wider galaxy.

The weapons wielded by the people of the stars fascinated Kallian, these ranged weapons that focused light into tight beams of energy that could burn through most material with little difficulty. She had played with one of these 'blasters' while aboard the Ebon Hawk but had nearly fried Zevran when she accidentally discharged the weapon, watching in horror as the red bolt ricocheted throughout the enclosed space. Needless to say, HK-47 removed the blaster from her possession after that incident. The vibroblades were also interesting, their foldable blades that vibrated with intense speeds enabling one to cut through steel with little trouble. The material they were constructed from, cortosis she believed, made the blades resistant to lightsabers, so a non-Force user would at least have a chance against either a Jedi or Sith.

HK seemed almost giddy as they walked toward the crumbling building before them, faceless statues holding up the carved roof of the ancient temple. As Kallian looked at the figures, she saw that they were sculpted to look as if their legs were buckling and their arms beginning to collapse under the strain, chains around their ankles and wrists signifying their enslaved status. At the highest point of the structure, a dark figure stood triumphant, jagged sword in one hand with broken chains placed in its other outstretched palm. The face looked vaguely human, but strange whiskers and fangs told Kallian that the statue depicted a race unlike any she had ever seen. She knew who built this temple long ago though, the shattered chains representing the power and beliefs of the True Sith.

"Through victory, my chains are broken," she said quietly as they walked through the shattered doors of the entrance, recalling the lessons of Revan given years before. "The Force shall free me".

Numerous desiccated corpses lined the darkened hallways of the Sith temple, ragged black robes and melted armor hiding mummified flesh with blackened eye sockets, mouths still twisted in final gasps of pain. Kallian picked up on of the fallen lightsabers around the bodies, igniting the red energy blade as she studied the strange material the hilt was constructed from. A dark aura still radiated from the black hilt, the legacy of a bearer corrupted by the dark side. Hate, anger, and ultimately despair all remained in the dark aura, but Kallian could sense no more of what the dead Sith once was.

The three explorers walked through a large opening to a circular chamber, statues carved out of porous rock each standing with their heads bowed towards the central part of the room, shredded cable and sheared-off pipe hanging from the ceiling over a mass of broken machinery. Bodies mummified in the intense, dry heat of the temple lay scattered around the room, the smell of death still overpowering even after the years these corpses most likely remained here. The dark side was strong here, but she sensed that the great power of darkness did not originate with the many Sith that once occupied this structure but with a single individual, an individual almost like the embodiment of the insidious side of the Force itself, a vast reservoir of dark side energy.

She approached the broken machinery, placing her hand the smooth surface of the metal scarred with jagged rents and blackened burns. In her mind's eye, she envisioned two individuals, one the familiar figure of Revan poised to strike with dual lightsabers and the other a faceless Sith clad in robes blacker than night, lightning erupting from both hands and anger surrounding it like the fire of a star. She flinched backwards as electricity leapt from the metal and shocked her, almost like a warning not to delve further into the battle that occurred here long ago.

"I don't think Revan is here…there was a battle that took place here once between her and a powerful Force user, but that's all I can sense from this temple," Kallian said quietly. Looking at the shadowed walls, she saw many glyphs that she felt a strange sense of familiarity with. The darkness in this place, the power it held within, reminded her of the grand cathedral of Andraste, but she pushed those thoughts aside. Her life on that world was over, at least for the time being.

"And what is this? A young Jedi who walks the ancient halls of the Sith? What is she searching for in these crumbling remains of power once held, now a testament to power now lost? Searching for ancient knowledge of the Sith…no, searching for _someone_ in particular, it seems," a voice suddenly spoke behind them.

All three whirled around to behold a woman, her white hair signifying great age but something about her suggesting she was not as old as she looked. She was dressed in simple brown and yellow robes with her hood placed over her eyes, no weapons visible at her sides but the billowing cloak adept for concealing a hidden blade. Kallian felt nothing from her in the Force, almost as if she had no presence in the great life-giving web. It appeared to her senses that no one stood where she so clearly was, not a wound as with the darkspawn or a void as with the droids but simply nothing. The words she spoke were unfamiliar, the only two she could make out were 'Jedi' and 'Sith'.

"Who are you? How did you sneak up on us like that?" Kallian questioned angrily, her hands reaching for her lightsabers.

"It is truly my shame as an assassin that she managed to come upon us undetected…I apologize," Zevran said with a grimace.

"What is this nonsense you speak, Jedi? I cannot comprehend your words if you insist on the speaking that alien tongue," the woman said in annoyance as confusion spread over Kallian's face.

"I can't speak your language; I can't understand you," Kallian said, trying to make the mysterious woman understand. She tried to project her lack of knowledge of the language of the stars into the Force, producing images that relayed her confusion and hoping the woman picked up on their meaning.

"Such amateurish control of the subtleties of the Force…have the masters of the Jedi truly fallen so far?" the old woman asked rhetorically. "You, machine, translate. I assume you know the Jedi's language since you travel with her".

"Statement: No meatbag gives me orders except for my master," HK said in basic, gripping his blaster a little tighter as he stared at the intruder.

"Your master was but a helpless child before I shaped her into a warrior to defy the greatest of powers in the galaxy. You will do as I say machine lest you return to your origins as a pile of scrap," Kreia said darkly.

"Commentary: Threats is it? You have some nerve meatbag, but sadly I believe the master would be rather displeased if I disposed of her teacher though I am sorely tempted," HK continued before turning to Kallian. "Translation: The elderly organic wishes to know why a Jedi is here on this Sith world".

"I'm not a Jedi, I've never met a Jedi in my life other than Revan even though she didn't see herself as such. Tell her we are searching for Revan, traveling to all the worlds where she once stood," Kallian said quickly.

HK-47 relayed the information to the cloaked woman, her face betraying nothing as she spoke again a cold, unfeeling tone, "So my apprentice sought to train another, a last legacy to remain behind after she left for forgotten remnants of the grand empire of the Sith. You seek one who has long disappeared into the darkness where none may follow after. The path set out on by Revan is a lonely one, and only those prepared to sacrifice everything to defeat an enemy long festering alone in a place devoid of any light may follow. You are but a trembling child, too young to have experienced the horrors of an endless war and too naïve to understand the danger that lies ahead".

Kallian narrowed her eyes at the unfamiliar words the woman spoke as HK reluctantly translated, "So you are Revan's master. She spoke of you often…she said you would have been able to train me in the ways of the Force far more thoroughly than she could herself".

The woman made no motion at hearing about Revan's thoughts about her and answered dismissively, "Revan had many masters, and I have had many apprentices. Revan sought knowledge from all sources, never satisfied with the teachings she could gather from the masters at the temple or in the archives. She sought knowledge the old fools in their ivory tower feared and remained ignorant of and so I taught her, taught her how one could leave the Jedi forever. And so she went and threw herself into war as my other foolish apprentices did as well, a war in which they lost themselves, sacrificed to an insidious power they believed wrongly that they could understand and control".

"You don't seem very fond of Revan though she seemed to hold you in high regard," Kallian observed.

The woman laughed at this statement as Kallian adopted a confused look before she spoke with cold humor, "You know little of what you speak, your understanding so flawed and clouded by misinterpreted perceptions. Perhaps you speak of the lie called friendship or love where individuals shield their true thoughts and play the part they believe their counterpart wishes for them to play, a masterful theater made up of masked actors simply reading their lines on the stage. No, you do not understand, you do not understand the deepest of relationships where one has no hesitancy in pointing out the weaknesses and failings of the other. You are afraid to have your true self revealed to all those you claim to care for, so you hide away, a slave to your false feelings and bonds, a lie covering for the darkness inherent in the truth".

Kallian felt like the woman had slapped her and her hand unconsciously rose to her face. Fear grew within her as she stared into the woman's hidden visage, the feeling that this mysterious woman could see right through her making her blood freeze to ice. "What do you know of me? You speak in riddles, exactly as Revan did, hiding the truth in elaborate puzzles and veiled words. Speak clearly so I may know your meaning," Kallian growled as she recovered from the cold sensation within her.

"How can you ever understand my true meaning when what you are is a lie. What you have become is a betrayal of your true self, a mask you don to hide the corruption within. Revan sought to redeem you believing her teachings were to blame for your fall. She blamed herself, her weakness, her inexperience, her inability to reach you as she believed I could have. She was wrong, you became what you are because of what you are. When you returned from the darkness, you denied the very essence of your being. The darkness will not be the source of your fall, it will be the doubt within you eating away at your mind, the insidious fear that questions your actions and weakens you further," Kreia lectured, her disapproval evident in every word.

"I hurt someone I cared for badly at that time. What I was then, wasn't what I wanted to be. It's never been what I wanted. All I wanted was to be free and to free those I cared about," Kallian argued in a failing voice.

"And yet this man betrayed you. Such is the nature of man, the only truth in this galaxy filled only with lies and false ideals. You knew this and yet you denied it because of our very nature, which rightly fears the truth. It is easier to be a slave, to live as an ignorant fool unaware of the lies that guide our actions than to acknowledge the truth…the terrible truth that we live under the rule of a cruel and unfeeling power, a power able to alter our fates and sway the hearts of man against us without a thought," the woman continued as Kallian tried to shrink away from her words.

"Why are you saying these things to me? It's like you want me to turn back to the dark side…I left that path long ago, and I never want to return. You're not like Revan…there's something cold and cruel about you, a mania I never felt within her," Kallian whispered in apprehension.

"You who have committed atrocities in the name of your goals dare to speak to me of the dark side?" the woman spat as Kallian flinched. "What redemption do you speak of, what return from darkness? Good deeds and a penitent mindset will not erase evil already committed, resurrect those killed to fuel the dark power within, comfort those whose lives were destroyed all for selfish desires. Redemption is a lie, a falsehood fools tell themselves to forget the crimes that return in their nightmares to torment them. You may run away from the past, tell yourself you have changed, but beneath the mask you know the truth: that the darkness lay not within the Force but within you".

"And what do you know of this? You do not even possess the Force; I cannot sense anything from you! You are like the monsters that existed on my world, dead to the Force, a lifeless void!" Kallian exclaimed as she struggled with the woman's words.

"The Force," she said with distaste, "is not the grand instrument of power you believe it to be. Those who wield it believe themselves strong…they are fools. Reliance on the Force is like drinking poison: it weakens the body, dulls the senses, and finally it destroys the mind. What if I told you that I once believed in the code of the Jedi? That I felt the call of the Sith, that perhaps, once, I held the galaxy by its throat? That for every good work that I did, I brought equal harm upon the galaxy? That perhaps the greatest of the Sith Lords knew of evil, they learned from me?"

"If you were once a Jedi and then a Sith, you would have drawn on the power of the Force, but I feel nothing from you, not even a trace of its power. If you were once so strong that you trained the greatest masters of the Force, what happened?" Kallian asked suspiciously.

"I told you of the true nature of all beings in the galaxy, and you may ask why this is so. Why is it man's nature to be betrayed and betray in turn? The answer is simple, it is because the Force has made it so," the woman answered simply. "Now I wander, searching for something of great importance. Something I believe is finally within my grasp".

"What?" Kallian asked, forgetting to comment that her previous statement failed to answer the question at all.

"An old apprentice…someone I believe will come to be of great importance in the coming war. A last legacy of Malachor and of Revan, so to speak," the woman mused before she looked closely at Kallian. "You are also interesting, the wound spreading within you of a kind I have never experienced. Tell me, how did this corruption come to be within you?"

Kallian did not know why the darkspawn taint was so interesting and hesitated in revealing it but eventually decided there was no harm in explaining. "A race of creatures exist on my world…they are lifeless, walking corruption, wounds in the Force. In order to fight them, warriors on my world take their corruption within themselves in order to fight back against them. We have our own legends on how they were created, some say they are a punishment from some sodding god, but Revan theorized that they were of Sith origin, though she never explained why she thought that".

"Yes, the ancient Sith understood how to manipulate wounds in the Force, to harness their corruption and spread death and destruction throughout the galaxy. The creatures that exist on your world may be a legacy of this experimentation, something to consider for the future. But time is running short; we must leave this world and rendezvous with my apprentice before _they_ begin to move," the woman said darkly.

"Who are _they_, and who died and made you the leader of this little search party?" Kallian said patronizingly.

"Revan is lost to you, the trail ends here. Unless you wish to fruitlessly search the millions of worlds in the Unknown Regions, I suggest you cease your complaining and listen to what I say. As for the ones seeking my apprentice, they are fools who failed to learn their lessons as well as they should have," the woman spoke guardedly, leaving Kallian wondering over what she meant.

"Observation: If you believe that I will abandon the search simply because an organic meatbag tells me I must, perhaps all that water has finally drowned the squishy, fleshy organ you call a mind," HK said in Basic, not bothering to translate for Kallian and Zevran.

"If I am not mistaken, this is the last planet known to have been visited by my apprentice before she vanished completely into the Unknown Regions. If you oppose me, idiot machine, I will break you as surely as I have dispatched countless others who similarly provoked my anger," the old woman spoke in an annoyed fashion, her words as cold as ice.

"Threat: I have no qualms about terminating any organic meatbag foolish enough to stand in my way, even if you are my master's master," HK said, aiming his blaster at the head of the old woman.

"Hey HK! I don't know what's going on, but you don't have to kill her!" Kallian yelled, trying to force down his weapon with little success.

"Correction: It is my primary function to eliminate any meatbags who interfere with the execution of my primary function or any of my self-given missions. So yes, I do indeed have to kill her," HK commented, his red eyes fixed upon the robed figure before him.

"If it interests you machine," the woman said with disdain, betraying no fear, "I happen to know something about where Revan headed after leaving this world. I offer a trade, aid me in my objective and I will help you to find your master".

"Suggestion: Or I could interrogate you and gather the information myself. I believe that option would be quite rewarding as well," he said gleefully, still not lowering his weapon.

"A compromise then, you take me where I need to go, and I will reveal Revan's location to you. The time you lose in transporting me will not hinder your search…I seek to return to the fringes of the Outer Rim, not far from where we now stand," the irritated woman stated.

"Answer: Such an arrangement is acceptable though I would rather torture you for the answers I seek. That would take time though as Jedi are always notoriously difficult to break, such a dilemma," HK said with regret.

"Well I'm glad to see that we've all come to terms. I am Zevran, I knew your apprentice for a time, and now I see where she learned some of her more delectable traits I came to admire. It is an honor to meet someone as esteemed as Revan's master," he said with a bow and a seductive smile.

The woman regarded the lecherous elf with disdain as HK translated, "Who is this small-minded alien that speaks to me in this manner. Kindly refrain from doing so in the future, fool".

"Well, there is much to be said for successful first meetings," Zevran said with a shrug, seemingly unperturbed by the woman's cold manner.

"My name is Kallian…I assume you are Kreia," the young woman spoke as the hooded woman turned to leave the fallen temple.

"Once I was called that, and now I believe it would be wise to return to that identity, to leave a dark past behind, for now," she said mysteriously.

* * *

As the docked with the Republic cruiser Harbinger, Kallian could immediately sense that something was very wrong. "I have a bad feeling about this," she said to no one in particular as Zevran and HK turned to her for more information.

"Hmm, it seems my wayward students have made their move more quickly than I could have imagined," she said as Kallian looked to HK for an explanation. As the craft shook when the hatch was tethered to the larger ship, Kallian activated her dual lightsabers in a spinning flourish as Kreia scoffed at the unnecessary display.

"Statement: Any problems befalling this ship are no concern of ours. You will now tell us my master's location meatbag or suffer the consequences," HK stated threateningly.

Before she could respond, T3 interjected with a series of disapproving beeps, causing HK to turn to him in surprise. "Query: What do you mean you will not allow us to leave you rusted bucket of bolts?"

T3 responded to this question more forcefully, apparently arguing rather fiercely with its larger counterpart. "Interjection: I care nothing for your mission to 'find help' you useless trash compactor! I am all the help my master will require! Threat: I will reduce you to a blackened hunk of slag if you do not unlock the navicomputer!"

Kallian was at a loss as the two bickered back and forth, both producing weapons as the young elf wondered how insane these people from the stars were who brought weapons to bear at every minor conflict. Feeling danger from behind suddenly, she ducked just in time as a red blade of light passed where her neck would have been. A figure clad all in black suddenly materialized behind her, face obscured by a dark mask and strange eyepieces. She swept her lightsaber at the figure's feet as it leapt off the hold in a twisting somersault, but it never landed it as HK pumped repeated bolts from his blaster at the dark figure, striking it in the chest after it managed to deflect two shots. Walking forward deliberately, the murderous droid discharged two more bolts into the creature's head to make sure it no longer lived.

"Observation: Apparently the Sith have infiltrated this ship. Sensors indicate a remaining number of living organisms on this ship at a lower number than the typical crew complement of a vessel of this class. Conclusion: The Sith have eliminated the majority of this ship's crew…would suggest caution in proceeding".

"Search the ship for my apprentice…you girl, he will have a presence similar to yours, so you will have no trouble in identifying him. I will search on my own and you may do as you will," Kreia said quickly as Kallian nodded after receiving the translation.

Bodies lay strewn across the narrow corridors of the ship, lightsaber wounds clearly visible by the blackened lines they left on their clothes and cut into their flesh. No blaster burns covered the walls and most did not even have their weapons drawn, indicating that most were caught unawares by the Sith invasion. The Sith they encountered were a great deal of trouble with their ability to appear out of nowhere and strike without any indication that they were stalking the trio. Obviously they had been trained in the art of mental shielding, as they left no presence in the Force, only the barest hint of danger when they were about to strike. To make revealing their presence even more difficult, most used vibroblades instead of lightsabers, weapons that made no sound as they appeared from nowhere searching for a vital point.

Kallian finished off one as she sliced off its hand and buried both of her sabers in its neck, decapitating it with a scissoring slash. She watched as Zevran shot another repeatedly with his blaster, the recoil throwing off his aim slightly as he tried to get the hang of the strange weapon. HK-47 was in his element, eliminating targets with deadly efficiency and pointed insults at his enemies, the implication being that the droid was having far too much fun. After practically ripping one unfortunate Sith's arm out of its socket and crushing his fallen enemies neck with one heavy foot, he turned to Kallian and reported the number of enemy casualties along with detailed descriptions of their deaths.

As they continued to search, Kallian felt a strange disturbance in the Force originating in one of the cabins where passengers of the ship apparently stayed. Entering it, she beheld a man in his mid to late thirties slumped over the side of a bed, his presence a maelstrom of something Kallian could not quite describe, but if she had to put a word to it only one would suffice: death. She recoiled from the impression she got from the unconscious man, horror rising within her as she felt a wound in the Force greater than the entire darkspawn horde. Nausea almost overcame her as strength left her body, so much so that Zevran had to support her as she nearly collapsed to her knees.

"My dear Kallian, what's wrong? You look like you have seen a spirit of the Fade your face has grown so pale!" Zevran said with a concerned air as Kallian recovered sufficiently to stand on her own.

"This man…he is a wound in the Force, no…he is the death of the Force itself. I have never felt such pain, such agony contained within the body of one person. I can barely stand to be in the presence of such anguish and despair," she said quietly.

"Is this the man Revan's master was searching for then?" Zevran asked studying the man's face as a dark look came over his own.

"I don't believe it could be anyone else. If you could feel the Force, Zevran, you would know how terrible it is to be in this man's presence…the echo of countless screams, I hear them in my mind," Kallian answered in a fearful voice.

Zevran hefted the large man on his small frame, grimacing as he tried to balance his weight. Kallian looked at the man's face, his skin brown from long exposure to the sun with many lines and wrinkles testifying to a life spent facing the elements. His long brown hair fell around his face to his shoulders as a coarse beard covered his chin and cheeks. She wondered how he had survived the massacre onboard this ship and why he was lying unconscious with the remains of Sith infiltrators scattered around his open door. The whole situation was very suspicious, but she could feel no one in the general area.

Leaving the room as Zevran and HK searched the man's quarters, Kallian froze as a wave of darkness suddenly washed over her, power comparable to only one person she knew, which she only experienced once during that fateful day in the alienage. A bead of sweat ran down her neck as she watched the metal doors in front of her suddenly collapse inwards and then fly down the opposite hallway, revealing a dark figure standing almost to the ceiling, dark power rolling off him as a wave of psychic pain took hold of her mind. She looked at the man in front of her, no, the thing in front of her, its white flesh cracked and broken, its body seemingly held together only by the strength of the creature's will. One cold eye looked out at her, the other a milky white set in a blackened socket, and his mouth a jagged sneer as his jaw looked as if it would fall off at any moment. A billowing black cloak with a high forked collar was tied around his shoulders, his chest bare as the skin of his chiseled chest seemed to grind together as he moved. In his hand was a silver lightsaber, the red bar of light it produced far larger than her dual blades, almost reaching the length of a longsword from her world.

"I have come for the last of the Jedi, and now that I have found her, you will join your pathetic brethren in death for the glory of the Sith," the man said in a gravelly voice, hatred and anticipation fighting for control over his mind.

Kallian ignited her two lightsabers as the creature slowly approached with a savage grin, hefting his lightsaber with two hands while laughing maliciously. Fear coursed through Kallian as she felt the tortured aura this Sith held, his great power causing her to shiver uncontrollably as she fought to restrain her fear with her own power. "I can feel your fear, Jedi. You should have stayed hidden in your dark hole and prayed that we would never come across you, but now that you have finally revealed yourself, your end is a foregone conclusion".

Kallian did not need a translator to understand the dark figure's intent, her sabers crossing as she blocked a powerful blow from her opponent's lightsaber, her muscles going numb as the tremendous weight behind his strike forced her to her knees. She rolled out of the way as another fierce strike descended, cutting the metal floor apart as the man followed up his attack with a quick upward sweep. Kallian barely managed to parry the blow as the Sith continued to lay on attack after attack, his grim mouth alive with laughter as he forced the small elf back toward a dead end.

Dodging another attack, she dived under a horizontal slash that cut through a wall of pipes, superheated steam emerging to engulf the dark warrior in a fiery haze. As Kallian tried to catch her breath, watching as the cloud of steam expanded, a black boot suddenly emerged from the haze, striking her in the abdomen and sending her flying back as she let out a strangled cry. The Sith emerged from the burning steam with an unconcerned look, his body showing no damage though Kallian could sense the intense pain coursing through him. "How pathetic, you weakling. The least you could do is die gracefully and not shame the other Jedi who fell before you. Had I known you were this pathetic, I would have sent my subordinates to deal with you, how disappointing," he spat as he unleashed another hammering blow that sent Kallian staggering backwards.

Kallian's mind was racing, her pride had taken a permanent hit during her duel with Revan in the alienage, and she was not arrogant enough to refuse to admit she was outmatched. This Sith was on Revan's level, his power as awesome as the might of a storm. If she could not find someway to slow him down or manage to find an opportunity to flee, she was going to die here, that she knew very well. Placing her sabers in a defensive stance, she slowly backed away from the smirking warrior, trying to get some space between them. As she learned instantly, this was an extremely poor plan as her opponent lifted one outstretched arm, beckoning to her as she was lifted off her feet and pulled toward him as he leveled his lightsaber to impale her. In a desperate ploy, she managed to push his lightsaber away from her body as she slid by, the blade of energy burning her side as she went by, but she could not avoid the follow-up attack as the Sith smashed one armored forearm into her face, forcing her to the ground as droplets of blood flew out of her mouth.

Disoriented, she could barely see the descending red saber as it came down in a coup de grace, but a quick twist of her body protected her from harm as she lashed out with a quick kick to her opponents face. While he was distracted, she forced one of her burning sabers in triumph through the man's chest, watching in satisfaction as surprise came over his face, the brilliant sky blue blade emerging from his back as it scorched his flesh. Unable to help herself, she screamed out, "Who's laughing now you sodding Sith bastard!"

A flash of light and a quick smell of ozone was all Kallian sensed as a look of shock came over her face. She fell back, her hand still holding the lightsaber buried in her opponent's chest as her body crumpled to the ground. She looked in horror at her arm, an orange and black stump cut just above the elbow now all that remained. She watched as the rose she always kept strapped to her arm with a binding of cloth slowly burned away, red petals becoming black ashes as a sense of numbness spread through her body. She felt someone screaming in agony far away and wondered whom it was. All she could think as shock took hold of her mind was that a blackened, ruined limb now lay in place where her arm was once connected.

The Sith smiled evilly as he removed the blazing blue saber from his chest, casting aside the severed arm with disinterest as he reached down to grip the young elf by the throat, her screams of pain cut off as he tightened his hand around her windpipe as she gagged and choked. He slammed her into the metal wall, denting the pipes and electrical wiring before throwing her aside as she coughed blood pitifully, not even trying to defend herself as he approached. "And now young Jedi, you will die, as will your pathetic order along with you," he spoke with a predatory grin.

As he slammed down his red lightsaber, Kallian managed to hold out one hand as if to catch it, summoning lightning to her hand as the blade crashed down into her waiting palm. Her opponent's eyes widened as he struggled to force down the saber through the ball of energy held in her palm, smoke and electricity emerging from the battle of wills as a series of electrical shrieks filled the air. Increasing her power as her mouth curled into a snarl, Kallian unleashed a torrent of lightning from the outstretched hand as the Sith's lightsaber shorted out, his body being blown back from the incredible amount of energy unleashed.

Rising to her feet with one good hand pressed against her wound, Kallian glared at the Sith as he struggled to rise to his feet, twin flames of hatred burning in his eyes as he beheld his stubborn opponent. A series of blaster bolts struck him in the head and in the chest as he staggered back, the energy bursts doing little damage before Kallian saw Zevran enter the hallway with a grim expression on his face. HK-47 stood at his side, one metal arm outstretched as a small device opened on his wrist. "Time to die, meatbag," he said as a small metallic object sped from the launcher on his wrist.

The rocket collided with the Sith, blowing a hole in the side of the ship as alarms suddenly rang throughout the ship. Kallian felt herself being sucked down the hallway as air rushed through, but she managed to grab hold of a jagged piece of pipe before the emergency airlocks slammed shut, returning her to the floor with a thud.

Zevran ran over to her, looking at the terrible wound with concern before wrapping it in some spare cloth. He knew that wounds from lightsabers did not bleed, and he had dealt with violent amputations before among the Crows, but he had no idea how to treat the scorched flesh of Kallian's truncated arm, yellow bone still smoking as cooked marrow seeping out onto the cloth. He attempted to help her stand up, but she collapsed in a heap, her muscles not working due to the catastrophic injury as the pain and the injury itself caused her body to wretch uncontrollably.

HK was unconcerned, only giving the pair the slightest of glances as he looked at her severed arm in amusement, hefting it to admire the clean cut just above the elbow. Zevran cradled the limp form of Kallian in his arms as he tried without success to place her grievously wounded arm on her chest so it would not hang free. "I'm afraid I will have to ask you to carry our other companion, my friend," Zevran said to HK as the droid looked at the unconscious man in disgust.

"Objection: I am an advanced assassination droid meant to strike fear into the fleshy blood-pumping organs of meatbags everywhere, but look at the indignities I am subjected to, carrying cargo like a common worker droid," HK complained.

"I will make it up to you later, HK, but now I believe Kallian's wounds come before minor slights to your pride," Zevran said with a tinge of annoyance.

"Zev…Zevran," Kallian struggled to speak in a hoarse voice, "don't leave my lightsaber behind…pick it up for me would you".

Zevran looked around but saw no trace of the silver weapon with black onyx inlay as Kallian draped her remaining arm around his neck, "I'm sorry my dear, but I think it has joined the hulking Sith in darkness of the void. I doubt it will make you feel any better, but you probably will not have any use for it from now on," he said with a grimace, eyes darting to the crude wrap of cloth around her arm.

* * *

Alistair stared blankly as Eamon droned on about some pressing issue needing his immediate attention. Even the usually attentive Fergus and Elissa were starting to lose their concentration, eyes wandering to a particularly interesting section of the palace's ceiling or to the annoying insect that seemed to continually follow the same general flight path. He smiled as he looked to Shianni, her eyes glazed over and a trail of saliva beginning to drip from her open mouth. He wondered what the people would think if they could see Ferelden's glorious rulers reduced to bored schoolchildren waiting for the lecture from their strict teacher to end.

His mind wandered to thoughts of Kallian as Eamon's presentation continued with no end in sight. She had been gone for several weeks, and for the last few, no reports had arrived either from her or her subordinates, a fact which evoked in him a sense of concern over her well being. He was not overly worried, knowing no woman stronger than Kallian or any man for that matter. He had received word of some whispered plots against her life and had sent spies to look into them, but his sources had revealed nothing, and her knowledge of the Force would surely warn her of any danger.

Just as he was thinking this, a strange feeling came over him, almost like Kallian was standing in his presence. As he tried to decipher the meaning of the uncanny feeling, a wave of psychic pain came over him from the presence of Kallian, the excruciating agony snapping him out of his stupor and causing him to unconsciously check his body for the source of the pain.

Suddenly standing up, he saw Shianni on the ground grasping her head with both hands as Elissa moved to help her up. Their fearful gazes quickly turned to Alistair as he recovered enough to take a few steps forward. "What in the Maker's name is wrong with you two?" Eamon said in an exasperated voice.

"My cousin…Kallian," Shianni said in a ragged voice, "She's in so much pain right now. I can feel it".

"Feel it? What insane nonsense are you speaking of now?" Eamon said in confusion.

"I can feel it too," Alistair said in horror, as the waves of agony continued to wash over him. "I want you to send a search party to the South…look for any trace of her".

"And how do you suppose we do that? We have no idea even where to…" Eamon said pompously before Alistair fixed him with an enraged glare.

"I don't care how you do it," he snapped as his hands curled into fists. "Just do it!"

Eamon's eyes widened as the normally jovial king's face twisted into a maniacal mask of anger, his body shaking as he felt Kallian's distress from far away. As Elissa comforted Shianni, Alistair's mindset quickly evolved from anger to desperation. He knew he should have never let her go. This was all his fault, he had driven her away, and now she was paying the price for his own selfishness.

* * *

"I see you have recovered my lost apprentice," Kreia said without emotion, "though not without cost, I see". The woman looked over the wounded form of Kallian draped over Zevran's arms and then to the sad remains of her limb.

"We ran into an intractable Sith, a rather ugly fellow with skin like cracked slate," Zevran said as Kreia listened with interest. "He stubbornly refused to leave so sadly we were forced to send him into the void".

Kreia laughed as Zevran looked to her in confusion, "If you speak of _that_ fool, it will take more than an explosion and exposure to vacuum to finish him off. Already he stalks us. We must leave quickly".

"And what of Kallian? We can't leave her like this, her wounds need attention," Zevran said earnestly.

"Leave the girl to me. I will tend to her injuries," Kreia said, directing the elf to the medical room.

"Observation: The Republic cruiser is charging weapons. Our shields will not be able to bear the brunt of a sustained attack. Suggestion: We should enter hyperspace quickly, or we will have no ship to leave in," HK said calmly as T3 began to prime the hyperdrive.

T3 whistled and beeped in quick succession as HK translated quickly, "Advisory: Republic cruiser is preparing to fire. We will enter hyperspace momentarily though I would recommend bracing for impact".

As the Ebon Hawk sped away from the Harbinger, the Hammerhead-class cruiser shone with red energy as turbolaser blasts arced toward the agile craft, striking it just as it vanished into hyperspace. A great blast lit up space as debris and vented gas was all that remained. On the bridge of the Harbinger, surrounded by the murdered members of the hijacked ship's crew, Darth Sion looked at the immaculate hilt of a stolen lightsaber and smiled cruelly.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks to all who read and to Kaimaler, Codyy, and Edj Crow for the reviews. Kaimaler, HK-47 is indeed one of the best characters ever written in any medium. I really wanted to include him in the previous story, but I could not fit him in. Coddy, as you can see the Exile will indeed be male, as I always thought the canon status of Revan as a man and the Exile as a woman should have been reversed though I liked the romance between Atton and the Exile in the second one. I believe the handmaiden was a much better character than the disciple, though it is just my opinion. As for romance in this story, I'd rather just let the story write itself rather than deciding pairings. Edj Crow, I'm glad you liked the previous story. I don't know if Revan will appear again in the story, but it's primarily going to be about the characters of KOTOR II.**


	3. The Beating of Mighty Wings

"Awaken," a voice resonated in the sleeping man's mind. The word tore through the flashing images that filled the man's dreams, images of a graveyard world surrounded by massive fleets, the crew of his flagship looking to him with fearful expectation, the sight of a world breaking apart as a million ships crashed into its surface, being crushed into a tiny singularity by an inexorable force. The voice cut through his fear, his self-loathing, and the pain of countless voices simultaneously screaming out in terror followed by deafening silence. The silence had never left him, the Force that once guided his actions and sharpened his senses was now unreachable, leaving a single question in his mind like an object seen out of the corner of one's eye that disappeared when focused upon, the nagging question of "Why?"

Opening his eyes, his surroundings were too blurry to be seen clearly through the glass of the tank he floated in. He noticed vaguely that he was submerged in a kolto tank just as the viscous fluid drained from around him, dropping him to the ground where he slouched limply. The glass parted around him, causing his body to drop to the floor as his still clouded mind could not exercise control of his uncoordinated body. He continued to stare out at his surroundings, watching as the room slowly came into focus as his mind grew sharper as the effects of the long period spent healing wore off.

Pushing himself up with a grimace, he spit out some of the disgusting liquid that had collected in his mouth and looked around to the surrounding kolto tanks. Other men floated in them, the displays on the machines monitoring the individuals showing that their life signs had flat lined, all except one at the far end of the room. Slipping on a bodysuit over his uncovered body, he walked slowly to the still active tank, the sudden movement disorienting him for a moment before the dizziness subsided.

Looking into the clouded glass of the kolto tank, he beheld a beautiful woman sleeping peacefully, tubes and IVs placed all over her body. A mask covered the lower part of her face, allowing her to breathe as the kolto tended to her many wounds, but the rebreather failed to hide the fact that by human standards she would be considered extremely attractive. Her long red hair floated around her head, refracting light and giving her face a kind of ethereal quality. She was thin and muscular, speaking to a life spent honing the physical form, her musculature indicating a body built for speed. Her smooth, tanned skin was only marred by the unmistakable sign of lightsaber wounds, the shiny scar tissue running below her breast and on her shoulder with a particularly nasty-looking stab wound straight through her abdomen. To the man's experienced eyes, those wounds looked well healed and faded, probably from far in the past, but the wound to her right arm was still fresh, tender skin still knitting over the severed limb.

Looking at her pointed ears and her slight stature, he tried to affix a name to her species and a world where they hailed from, but he could think of no species that came immediately to mind. She looked human enough beside these rather trifling physical differences, so he wondered if she was perhaps like the Arkanian offshoots, products of genetic engineering that most pure-blooded Arkanians treated with disdain. Perhaps the Sephi though all the members of that species were comparable to humans in size, and this woman certainly was not.

As he admired her form, icy blue eyes fluttered open, appearing unfocused for a moment before they widened into a fearful, panicked gaze. Considering her injuries not yet healed, the man moved to release a sedative into the kolto to calm her down before the tank exploded, shards of razor sharp glass flying outward as the surprised man turned to shield his eyes. The gel-like liquid rushed out in a torrent and settled on the floor as the woman fell to the floor of the tank, emergency lights blinking on the displays of the machinery.

He watched as she desperately tried to remove the mask from her face, ripping the tube from her throat as she coughed violently, disgust evident in her eyes much like an animal's as they darted back and forth, searching for danger. He shouted a warning as she began to tear the IVs out of her body, needles drawing blood as they were ripped from her flesh. Her eyes snapped to him, and he realized how foolish it had been to call attention to himself as an unseen force slammed into him, smashing him into the ground as the woman jumped on top of him, pinning his body and choking him with one outstretched leg. Anger burned in her eyes as she summoned lightning to her hand, an enraged growl escaping her mouth with the man wondering if this was to be his fate, to die as a powerless and exiled Jedi at the hands of a dark side user, possibly a Sith. He accepted his fate as she brought her glowing hand crackling with electricity to his face, closing his eyes and waiting for the blow to come.

It never did. After waiting for what seemed like hours, he cracked one eye open, looking at a hand only inches from his face and a vague sense of recognition on the woman's face. He was still pinned to the ground unable to move, and he had no doubt that he was still in danger of imminent death, so he did the only thing he could do, try to use humor to get out of this tense situation. "You know, it's always been my dream to die with a gorgeous, naked Sith on top of me, but if I had the choice, I'd really rather live through the experience," he said with a brilliant smile, knowing that if he angered her it would be over in a second.

She failed to kill him though, her face contorted into a confused look at his words as she continued to hold him down. The man wondered what she was waiting for and then it dawned on him, "_Fierfek…she doesn't understand Basic does she?_ _Is there anyone in this galaxy who doesn't at least understand Basic? There goes Plan A…_" To confirm his suspicion, he asked, "So, you don't understand Basic, do you?"

He saw a flash of recognition on her face at the name of the language, and she began speaking in a completely unfathomable tongue, the only words of which he could understand were 'Basic' and 'Sith'. So that was probably a yes to his question.

The Exile sighed, his luck just kept getting worse. First, he had no idea how in the galaxy he had ended up in a kolto tank somewhere he could not even begin to identify, only that it was not the Harbinger. Second, he was trapped with a mysterious Force user who probably, thankfully, was not a Sith given her restraint but who still had him at her mercy and for an added bonus, spoke no Basic. "So…do you think you could possibly let me up?" he asked, making a vague gesture he thought approximated his meaning.

She narrowed her eyes as she studied his face, rising to her feet while he inhaled loudly, her weight no longer limiting his air supply. The Exile stood up, gingerly holding his neck as he continued to shamelessly gawk at the woman who made no move to cover herself. There was no need to as a dark glare bristling with murderous intent quickly sent his gaze elsewhere. He picked up another of the scattered body suits and tossed it to her, saying, "Here, you can wear this. Can't have you walking around like that though I wouldn't mind. Alas, the galaxy has standards of conduct, which seldom conform to my desires".

The woman put the underclothes on quickly, wincing as the cloth brushed her wound and sending the Exile a look of pure hatred and disgust as he suddenly remembered that Jedi and Sith could rather easily read surface thoughts and his were rather untoward at the moment. "Well," he said with delight, "let's put this whole sordid ordeal behind us and start anew. I'm Lux Vulnus, exiled Jedi at your service…and you are?"

Kallian watched as the disgusting man pointed to himself, a leering grin on his face as he apparently introduced himself. She could not believe she had lost an arm to save this perverted shem. It seemed that the bastards were far worse out here in the wider galaxy than they ever were back home in Ferelden. Coming out here had been a mistake, she should have never left her home to go chasing after Revan who could be on any one of the billions of worlds that were scattered around the galaxy. As soon as these thoughts appeared in her mind though, she banished them, chastising herself for once again giving in to self-pity. Sighing, she focused her angry gaze on the man before her and said quickly, "Kallian…Kallian Tabris".

He held out his right hand for her to take as she looked at the offered hand with distaste in her eyes and then darting to the still-healing remainder of her limb. His eyes fell as he realized what he had done, withdrawing the hand as he said, "Oh…I'm sorry, that was tactless of me…I just didn't think about…your injury". Kallian did not comment, receiving the gist of what the man had said and not caring about his apology as she turned away from him and walked out into the hallway.

Emergency lights dimly lit the corridor, and flashing red lights repeated every couple seconds as distant alarms wailed in the background. Kallian walked into the adjacent room, and her eyes widened as she looked at the tattered and burnt robes of Kreia, the woman lying on a bed along with several other corpses placed in sealed body bags. She ran up to her, placing her hand on her cold skin as she checked for any signs of life. She felt no pulse, no steady heartbeat, no shallow breaths, only ice cold skin devoid of the warmth of life. She could not believe that Kreia, Revan's master, a woman who had trained arguably the most powerful warrior in the galaxy, could die so easily. "_How did this happen? How did we eve get here?_" she wondered as she stepped away from the corpse.

The human, Lux she believed he had called himself, hung back, his arms crossed over his chest as he said gravely, "Someone you know?" Kallian fixed him with a deadly glare, walking past him quickly without saying anything in response. She wondered where Zevran was and if he had met a similar fate to the old woman, hoping against all odds that she had not been left alone out in this frightening galaxy, wounded and unable to help herself.

Continuing forward with the human following after, she noticed black scarring along the white walls along with a few bodies slouched against them with horrible burn wounds turning their faces and torsos into charred meat. Stopping to study the corpses for a moment, she saw that the wounds were not due to lightsabers thankfully, but she would rather not meet the being who inflicted the injuries if she could avoid it. She felt a grim sense of resignation from her companion, his compassion for the murdered men and women overwhelmed by a life spent watching too many people die. She wondered about the feeling she got from him and about the horrifying wound that seemed to warp the very essence of the Force around him. She pushed aside such thoughts, knowing that without an adequate means of communication, her questions would not be answered anyway. She also felt a certain strangeness about herself, almost as if she was being drawn to him in some way. For brief instances, she would sense the Force rising within her only to disappear a second later, a feeling that coincided with this mysterious connection she felt.

Watching as the door in front of her opened with the hiss of compressed air, she suddenly found herself staring down a machine that vaguely resembled one of the mammoth spiders from her world. A feeling of danger flooded her senses as she pushed the moronic human out of the way and dodged just as twin currents of energy erupted from the droid's arms. Summoning lightning to her hand, Kallian cast it at the machine, watching with satisfaction as the droid collapsed to the metal floor, smoking and sparking.

Several others came forward to replace their fallen ally as Kallian charged forward, blasting the droids into the wall with a wave of the Force as she finished them off with another wedge of lightning erupting from her fingertips. She looked back to the human with a smirk, watching as his eyes widened and another feeling of danger took hold of her body. She turned quickly to see the mining droid bearing down on her rising off the floor, currents of electricity running across its metallic skin as it twitched and sparked. As the droid dropped to the ground with a loud clatter, she turned once again to the human Lux who looked at his own hands in amazement, a look of wonder and confusion coming over his face.

"I can feel the Force flowing through me…but how? I thought the power was lost to me forever," he said to himself as he saw his alien companion looking at him with a questioning look.

"Thanks, I was distracted, I shouldn't have been," Kallian admitted, knowing that he could not understand anyway, but through the Force, he should be able to grasp her sentiment.

The Exile could feel her embarrassment and remorse at being caught off guard, her apologetic mindset making her meaning perfectly clear even if he could not understand her words. "Hey, no need to apologize. We all make mistakes…some more than others," he said gravely.

Reaching out with the Force for the first time in years to touch her mind, he felt mental shields weakened by stress and the nature of her injury so that some of her feelings could be easily read. She was very grim with a sense of tragedy in her past while a great sense of fear also seemed to color her inner thoughts. Deep within the woman he felt anger long buried in the past beginning to break through the weakened walls that kept it trapped. She certainly was not a Jedi given the swirling maelstrom of emotions within her, but the lack of malevolence corrupting both her inner and outer being pointed to her not being a Sith either. Yet he felt an air of training within her, the barriers that imprisoned her anger and the evidence of mental shields attested to that. She was an enigma, and without any means to communicate with her, he could discover no more.

As they moved on both, both felt another presence in the large room crawling with more of the murderous droids. As Kallian tore the machines apart and left them burning heaps of crushed scrap metal, Lux moved toward the location of the presence, his eyes narrowing as he noticed a man standing in a holding cell, a bored, unconcerned look on his face as he followed the approaching man with his eyes. "And who are you supposed to be? Didn't know the miners around her liked to walk around in their underwear, but to each his own I guess".

"What are you doing in there?" the Exile asked suspiciously.

"I don't know, maybe I just like locking myself in a force cage, maybe I'm hiding from all the murderous mining droids running around frying every poor sap they run across, what do you think?" he said scathingly.

"Sarcasm isn't going to help you get out of that cage you know," the Exile commented as the man glowered at him.

"Yeah well, leaving me in this cage isn't going to help you get off this blasted rock," he shot back as Kallian wandered over. "Hey, you're that Jedi all those miners were going after. Huh, I can see why".

Kallian glared at him, saying with disgust, "Oh, another shem with eyes that can't seem to rise above my chest…perfect".

"If you're going to subject me to a half-naked interrogation, at least speak a language I can understand. I'm Atton by the way, Atton Rand," he said, crossing his arms over his chest and giving the woman an appraising look.

"Lux and she's Kallian…I think. She doesn't seem to speak Galactic Basic or any other language I understand. I've never seen her species before, though she looks near-human," the Exile observed.

"Well since the schutta can't understand, I guess I can rant all I want. It's always these vaping Jedi doing there best to ruin things for the rest of us. This station didn't turn into a deathtrap until you kriffing idiots showed up," Atton complained as Lux's eyes narrowed.

"I don't think our friend here is a Jedi…I think you're referring to me," the Exile said in an airy tone.

"What? You expect me to apologize? All you Jedi are the same, so high and mighty, lording it over us peons. The galaxy would be a lot better off if all you Jedi and Sith disappeared," Atton spat, fixing the Exile with a disgusted look.

"You know, you're not helping your case for being let out of this cage much," Lux told him with a smirk.

"Yeah? Maybe I don't want you to let me out. Trouble follows you Jedi like stink follows a Hutt. I'll probably be better off staying here," he said defiantly.

"What do you even know about the Jedi? What do you have against them?" the Exile asked.

"I don't know, maybe the fact that they abandoned the Republic and left us to the mercy of the Mandalorians. If it hadn't been for Revan and Malak, we'd all be dead or speaking Mandalorian around now. But look what those sons of schuttas went and did afterward: exactly what all other Jedi do, betray those around them and treat those without the Force like dirt," Atton raged, directing an accusing glare toward the man before him.

"I was under the impression that Revan saved the Jedi…and the Republic. I was there at the final battle, whatever she did during the Jedi Civil War, she still redeemed herself later by defeating Malak," the Exile argued.

"Yeah, whatever. What are you saying 'she' for though, everyone knows Revan was a man," Atton said, not willing to continue fighting over the issue.

"Who told you that? Revan was a woman," he said in disbelief.

"Huh…was she anything to look at?" Atton asked.

"Maybe when she was younger…war made her as cold and hard as the hull of an interdictor cruiser," Lux answered, seeming to look far away as he became lost in memories.

Kallian's annoyance grew as she was forced to endure this incomprehensible conversation between the two humans. She picked up some words and could sense the feelings of the two, feeling the anger of the trapped man wash over her as he mentioned the Jedi, but his anger was strange, almost like it was directed at himself, an overwhelming self-loathing he kept hidden deep inside. She recognized the word 'schutta' directed at her apparently given the brief glance he gave her when he said it, having heard Revan use it on occasion when rebuffing Zevran's advances. Revan never explained the definition but given the context, Kallian assumed it meant a woman of ill repute, and to have it directed at her made the rage at this whole situation threatening to burst forth begin to breach the fragile state of her self control.

Her interest was piqued though when the abrasive man mentioned Revan, a woman he apparently both revered and hated given his conflicting feelings with regard to her. The argument began at the mention of her name only made her more curious, so she struggled to pick up the images and shards of memories they held of the woman. Their thoughts on her could not have been more different with Lux remembering a beautiful woman clad in brown robes surrounded by a crowd of thousands all cheering her name while the memories of the trapped man were dark and indecipherable, brief flashes of a masked visage and legions of faceless soldiers.

"Do you two know Revan? Sod, why can't you two idiots speak the common tongue! How in the name of the Force am I supposed to find anything out?" she exclaimed, causing both men to look at her in surprise.

"You get anything out of that?" Atton said with a bemused look.

"Just 'Revan' and 'Force'," he said with a shake of his head. "It seems she is rather curious about this topic of conversation if she's so desperate to participate. I wonder why she's so interested in Revan".

Kallian looked at the machine in confusion, trying to discern how to deactivate it before giving up and punching her lightning covered hand into the display, pulling out a handful of sparking wires as the energy field sputtered and died. "It seems your partner decided to give me the benefit of the doubt, huh?" Atton said with a grin as he stepped out from the force cage. "You're not so bad after all". He ruffled Kallian's hair as he walked by, but his hand was quickly gripped by unseen force and wrenched backward. As he gingerly held his wrist, he looked into the stricken eyes of the alien woman, hate and disgust obviously discernable.

"It seems she doesn't feel the same way about you," Lux said with a chuckle. "I probably should have warned you. She's rather feisty".

"I like a girl with a little spirit…though Force powers are always a minus. Don't want her strangling me for every little thing," Atton said with a laugh.

"Well just be aware that I saw her first," Lux said with faux seriousness, staring at Atton with a stern expression.

"I thought you Jedi were above all that: passion, love, marriage, and the like. Sounds pretty boring if you ask me," Atton asked, still concerned with making sure Kallian had not inflicted permanent damage.

A pained expression suddenly came over the Exile's face as Kallian felt a brief feeling of anguish and regret emanate from him, "I left the Jedi a long time ago".

* * *

"Statement: As soon as I encounter that shoddy, durasteel imitation, I will rip its circuits out and relegate the remains to the junk heap where such an abominable mockery belongs!" HK-47 raged, its metallic digits clenching and relaxing in succession as he fumed.

"Wouldn't that be analogous to fratricide, my friend?" Zevran commented with a smirk. "The two of you are practically twins".

HK looked at the elf with a menacing air as his hand moved closer to his low-slung blaster, "Query: Do you wish for death you insipid meatbag?"

Zevran chuckled at this, thinking back to the days when he might have answered yes, "At one time I might have, but now I think I've grown rather attached to living. Life is too short to be wasting it regretting our decisions in the past, you understand".

"Statement: I only regret wasting time carrying on this moronic conversation with you while I could be enjoying the elimination of organic meatbags. Commentary: Life is indeed short especially considering the nature of inferior organic bodies. It is my primary function to ensure that life remains short".

"While I'm always interested in discussing philosophy with you my friend, I wonder if you have had any luck reversing the damage done by the infiltrator?" Zevran asked as HK continued studying the terminal.

"Statement: The imitation's efforts to trap us in the hangar area are amateurish as expected of the work stemming from such a poor copy of my cybernetic magnificence. All force fields and blast doors will be opened shortly. Advisory: Reprogramming the mining droids will take more time, perhaps unnecessary. Droids of this type amount to little threat, so I will leave them as they are".

"The faster we can get to Kallian the better. We know the stowaway is after her and the man we rescued, I wonder why…" Zevran spoke, looking to the blue energy field blocking their way with irritation.

"Answer: Miner records indicate that there is bounty on Jedi originating with the Exchange, a criminal organization my master had some _dealings_ with in the past. The imitation has been impersonating one of these miners in arranging the incapacitation and eventual transport of the pair with records indicating destination…Nar Shaddaa," HK offered, scanning the descending text.

"So is the infiltrator working for this Exchange?" Zevran asked.

"Answer: That is the most likely scenario. Though I do not know how they came across the plans for my construction, so they could create this perversion. Statement: I will enjoy watching their blood run when I finally discover who is behind this disgusting mockery," the droid responded in a heated tone.

After the Harbinger's salvo had ripped through the Ebon Hawk's shields and hull, the interior of the ship had descended into chaos. Fires quickly engulfed the inner hold, raging for several critical seconds as the emergency systems struggled to contain the damage. The area under the gun turret had received the most damage, an unfortunate occurrence since the medical room was located directly under the point of impact. Zevran had left Kallian and Kreia to join HK and T3 in the navigation room when the explosion rocked the inside of the ship. Slipping through the blackened, twisted metal of the inner hold, he managed to wrench the damaged door of the medical room off its hinges to get to the trapped pair.

He had been too late to save Kreia, the old woman suffering numerous injuries, her skin cracked and burned by the tremendous heat of the blast. Surprisingly, Kallian suffered only light injuries, a few minor cuts and burns blemishing her otherwise immaculate form. The man they had rescued from the hijacked vessel had suffered more serious injuries in the common room, burns and shattered bones leaving him in critical condition. With the limited medical supplies they had on board, there would be no way to treat both Kallian and the man Kreia died to save if they continued the journey to Telos.

Although T3 was hesitant to drop the damaged ship out of hyperspace and proceed to a closer destination, he eventually gave in to Zevran's protests, setting a course for a backwater mining station named Peragus. The engines groaned as the damaged craft lurched into hyperspace, no doubt leaving more of its shattered hull behind, but the freighter managed to make it to the station after a rather tense trip.

Almost immediately after the Ebon Hawk arrived and the pair were given medical attention, the situation grew increasingly complicated. Rumors that Kallian was a Jedi spread like wildfire around the station, motivating unscrupulous miners to plot to procure the bounty on the head of every living Jedi. The fact that fatal accidents and increasing homicidal behavior on the part of mining droids began in earnest after the arrival of the Ebon Hawk only exacerbated the problem. So here the unlikely pair stood, trapped on the other side of the station from their comrades with an army of malfunctioning droids under the impression that they were ore to be mined in their path.

Zevran sighed, his eyes again glancing to the energy field blocking their way and back again to HK, the droid continuing its attempts to slice the compromised computer system, "Statement: I have control. Malicious code almost completely eradicated. Barriers will be removed in a few moments…done".

"Let's not waste any time. We need to leave this station as soon as possible…I'm sure our Sith friend will not be to far behind never mind the enemies left on this station," Zevran said as he began quickly moving forward.

"Observation: The Harbinger has already docked at this station. Given the unpredictable drift of the asteroids surrounding Peragus and the explosive ore contained within, we will need to appropriate a copy of the navigation charts contained on the cruiser's bridge in order to ensure a successful escape," HK informed his smaller cohort who frowned at the revelation.

"Marvelous. If we can we will just avoid him, if not…we will do what we must," Zevran said gravely.

"Observation: Or we could terminate the meatbag. I believe this is the most effective option," the droid offered in all seriousness.

"We could indeed do that…though our chances of success seem rather low," he said with a laugh. "But what can I say, I am an eternal optimist. Why not then?"

"Answer: I can see no reason to ever not eliminate organic meatbags that interfere with my objectives," he answered, his head swiveling around to check for the movement of hostiles.

"I do have to say, I rather admire your macabre tastes. Violence always brings one a sense of pleasure, no? Then lets get to it then, my murderous friend," Zevran said with a bright smile.

"Explanation: If by pleasure you mean the warm sensation that builds in my behavior core when I slaughter organic meatbags, then yes," HK said with finality as the pair traveled deeper into the rocky bowels of the asteroid.

* * *

"Annoyed Clarification: A ship will arrive shortly to transport us from this station. You need not expose yourselves to danger by engaging in a pointless search for surviving miners. The important issue is your safety and the safety of your companion, master," the condescending droid spoke to Lux, moving slightly closer as if to threaten the former Jedi.

Kallian continued to scowl at the droid with a great degree of suspicion though she had no idea what the two were discussing. The Exile had noticed a degree of recognition appear on her face when they encountered the steel-gray protocol droid, but her look was quickly replaced by confusion as she examined the appearance of the droid. Apparently she had encountered a similar model to this droid before though Lux could not remember any protocol droids quite like this while serving on several ships of the Republic's armada.

The way it acted also caused a strange sense of apprehension to grow in the Exile's mind, its personality and speech evoking doubt in him that the machine was truly what it claimed to be. He had never found a protocol droid quite as unhelpful and scathing in its explanations, almost like it was hiding something or trying to divert attention from the truth. It's obsessive fixation with his and Kallian's safety and its refusal to help them unlock the station's security systems also raised some red flags, as it claimed to be trying to ensure the safety of a member of the Harbinger's crew, but it took great pains to avoid the subject of the fate of the ship or how he had even arrived here. In short, he just did not trust this deceptive machine.

"I'm, not just going to sit here waiting around for rescue. If there's people alive in this station, I'm not going to just leave them trapped," Lux said forcefully, making sure that the droid understood that no words from it would stop him.

Condescending Agreement: Of course, master. Whatever you say, master. Feel free to waste your time trying to break through the station's security systems. I will remain here and watch your futile efforts with great humor," the droid said patronizingly.

The Exile's eyes widened at the droid's audacity in insulting him and prepared a scathing retort just as the opposite door hissed open. Lux looked quizzically at the strange pair that appeared in the doorway, one an alien of the same species as Kallian, his skin darker and his hair the color of the golden fields of Dantooine along with a droid of the same model as the one before them, its plating a rust red and eyes a deep crimson rather than a cold blue. Before he could even react, the intruding droid raised a blaster rifle and fired a quick succession of shots into the gray droids frame, leaving numerous smoking holes in its chest and head as it collapsed to the ground.

Kallian seemed unsurprised as the droid stalked forward, holding Lux back with her outstretched arm as the rust red droid straddled its fallen victim, smashed its fist through the broken metal of its chest, and pulled out the droid's power core, crushing it with a shower of sparks in one clenched metallic claw. For good measure it put a few more bolts in the wreck's smoking head, overkill in the opinion of Lux but apparently quite humorous in the opinions of the two aliens who snickered cruelly at the display. The blonde-haired one spoke something to the droid and received a response in the same incomprehensible tongue before Kallian added her own input enthusiastically, leaving Lux feeling like his companion had probably felt up until this point.

"What'd you have against that droid HK, you looked like you were practically brothers," Kallian inquired, smiling at the droid.

HK-47 shot a quick glare at the woman, his blazing red eyes giving off a menacing aura, "Statement: This abominable imitation is an insult to my perfect form, a perversion that must be sought out and destroyed. Query: How would you react if someone took a meatbag such as yourself and cloned you, only they created such a poor copy that everything that made you unique has been sullied and cheapened?"

"Well…I guess I'd be pretty angry," Kallian said, considering what the droid asked.

"Statement: Exactly. Given the lack of diversity between the squishy, fleshy forms of meatbags, such anger would probably not rise to a level beyond mere annoyance, but to a superior, inimitable, cybernetic being such as myself, having these cheap copies roaming the galaxy is insufferable!"

"Hey, we're not all the same! There's more differences between…uh…organics than there is between droids. You looked exactly the same except for your color schemes!" Kallian exclaimed.

HK-47 gripped his blaster in a threatening fashion as he stood over the slight woman, "Objection: These scrap heaps are a tasteless durasteel gray, far inferior to my own rust colored plating. And they have the audacity to refer to meatbags as _organics_. Unacceptable!"

"Whatever, there's no point to fighting about this. I concede the point. You are indeed far superior in every way to that poor imitation in both body and spirit," Kallian said sarcastically although privately admitting that personality wise, HK was probably better company given her companion's exasperation at the words of the fake.

"Well sorry to interrupt your conversation, but I can't understand anything you three are saying," Lux said, returning the trio's attention to him.

"Query: Must I again lower myself to the position of a common translator droid as a result of the deficient hardware of these organic meatbags?" HK said in Basic, making sure the man knew of his distaste at the thought of it.

"This meatbag would appreciate it greatly," Lux added wryly.

"Observation: At least the meatbag knows his place," the droid said with approval. "Explanation: We will return to the control room and board the Harbinger in order to obtain the astrogation charts necessary for leaving this station," the droid spoke.

The blonde haired alien approached Lux, holding out a hand in what looked like a greeting while speaking slowly in his peculiar language. Lux took it, looking to the droid for clarification, "Translation: The pointy-eared meatbag wishes to inform you that he is Zevran and apparently 'Zev' to his friends, which apparently comprises all sentient beings. He thanks you for looking after the female organic while we were unfortunately trapped by the decidedly poor efforts of the imitation".

"I'm Lux, it's good to meet you. It's good to meet anyone who's not a homicidal droid with dual laser drills," he answered, taking the smaller alien's hand. "We can't leave yet though, there still might be miners trapped in other parts of the station".

HK translated his words quickly with Kallian scoffing in response. She looked at him and said something unintelligible, but Lux could grasp the spiteful tone she spoke in. "Translation: She states that she cares little for the trapped organics throughout this station and will participate in no efforts to rescue them. Clarification: The infiltrator disposed of the majority of still-living miners when it assumed control of this station's systems. Any attempts to search for and rescue said miners have a low probability of success and will inevitable lead to little gain at the cost of substantial effort and time".

Lux grimaced at the droids words. It galled him to have to leave the miners behind, but he had felt the stirrings of evil beginning to invade the station though he knew not from what source, and his senses told him that they had little time to lose. He nodded in agreement after several moments of wrestling with the decision, following the others as they returned through the mines to the control room.

As they approached the elevator leading to the primary level, Zevran moved to stand beside Kallian, looking at her in the oversized miner's uniform she wore, one sleeve hanging loosely at her side. "Kallian, are you alright?" Zevran asked, trying to open up discussion on her condition.

"Why wouldn't I be," Kallian responded quickly, avoiding his eyes.

"Maybe due to the extensive injuries you recently suffered, perhaps?" he answered, failing to eliminate the sarcasm from his voice completely.

She glanced over to the hanging sleeve and scowled before returning her gaze straight ahead, "It could have been worse. That Sith…whatever he was, stood at the same level as Revan in terms of power. I'm lucky he didn't kill me".

"We are most likely going to meet him again when we board the stolen ship…what will you do then? You don't plan to attempt to seek revenge, I hope," he said in a concerned voice.

"I doubt I would be successful as I am now. I need to find a way to strengthen the Force within me, to make my connection to the Force sharper. I always thought battles were decided by the person who could somehow kill their opponent whether by strength, guile, or even luck," Kallian said quietly. "I killed him Zevran, do you understand? I _killed _him…stabbed my sword right through his heart and he just shrugged it off. The Force was so strong in him…so intense and corrupt, that he could even shrug off death. How can I fight those who spit in the face of death, those who are more like gods than mortals? I don't know".

"Yes, that would make my job as an assassin slightly more difficult if those I kill continue to come back to life," Zevran said with a smile, trying to break through the dour mood.

"It won't be so funny when he has you by the throat, and you can't do anything," she said darkly. "That reminds me, loan me a weapon. I lost my lightsaber somewhere…probably on our ship".

"HK will not be pleased with you once again having one of these in your possession," he said, unholstering a blaster pistol and handing it to her. "Try not to point it at anyone you are not aiming at. I would rather avoid any…incidents," he said with a grin.

"Don't worry," she said looking down the sight of the blaster, "I learned my lesson the last time I handled one of these sodding things".

As Zevran chuckled, the elevator door opened with a blast of pressurized air, revealing the hooded face of Kreia just as Zevran looked up, "Maker's breath! Are there Fade spirits here as well?"

Kreia barely even acknowledged Zevran's presence before turning her attention to the Exile, her hooded gaze fixed upon him, "So you have finally awoken and begun to feel the stirrings of the Force within you".

"I was pretty sure you were dead. Who are you? You feel familiar, but then again, I can't really feel you at all in the Force," the Exile said with confusion.

"Has it truly been so long that you do not remember me? Or has the absence of the Force deadened your other senses as well?" Kreia answered. "I knew you for a time at the Temple, and when the Mandalorians threatened to overwhelm the Republic, we both went off to war. Does your memory still fail you?"

"It can't be…Kreia? I thought you died during the war. You look…different," he said with surprise, straining to see the woman he once knew in her wizened, aged form.

"Many things are not as they seem. You only look with your eyes, and you blind yourself to the truth. I did indeed die during that time from a certain point of view, as when I emerged from the flames of war as others did, yourself included, I was no longer what I once was," Kreia answered.

"More riddles and puzzles," the Exile said in exasperation. "You always criticized the other masters for their false claim to wisdom, but you were always the worst of the lot, masking your answers in questions without meaning".

"Instead of complaining about your own lack of understanding, try listening and then perhaps my meaning will become clear. True knowledge, like any other power, is not taught but earned. Those who absorb their master's teachings like mindless automatons will never find the answers to the questions that trouble their small minds. When one considers a difficult problem, examines it, and solves it on their own, they have gained a greater sense of understanding than one who spent a lifetime pouring over books written by those as equally ignorant," Kreia chastised in a sharp tone.

Kallian managed to get a word in after the old woman finished, asking, "Kreia…I saw your body just a few hours ago. It was cold and lifeless…how did you survive?"

"Death is just another obstacle to be overcome. Ultimately, the body is but a physical thing, a collection of uncoordinated flesh, bone, and muscle. Without the mind, the body is but a useless puppet with no strings. Gain absolute control of the mind and trivial wounds of the flesh much like your own will cease to matter," Kreia answered as HK translated although not without complaint. "But enough of this, we can afford no delay now as that one is drawing near".

"Who is that Sith?" Kallian asked. "You made it sound like you knew him well".

"A fool. A fool who despite the harshest of lesson still has learned nothing. A truly pathetic example of a man," she said with contempt.

* * *

After collecting Atton, the party entered the Harbinger through the umbilical connecting the ship to the station. The ship was completely silent, not even the constant hum of life support breaking the overwhelming quiet. Kallian felt nothing in the Force signaling imminent danger and not even a trace of the indescribable power originating from the mutilated form of the Sith she had dueled before. They managed to collect the charts without incident, but the lifeless eyes of the slaughtered crew staring up at them from the floor of the bridge deeply unnerved her, the situation not helped by the ghostly projections of the dead crew Lux brought up to try to ascertain the fate of the cruiser's officers and deckhands.

The sense of foreboding only increased as they moved through the ship toward the refueling line, their objective the hangar on the other side of the station. Even as her apprehension increased, the ship remained lifeless, only the bodies of the crew and the occasional Sith infiltrator sullying the otherwise spotless hallways. "You know, don't you think that this whole trip has been a little too easy? Huh, anyone?" Atton interjected, the man never able to keep his mouth closed for a few seconds at a time.

"We did kill a few dozen Sith on our last trip here. Maybe they're fresh out, such a shame," Zevran said sarcastically, eliciting a laugh from Kallian.

"Hey what's-your-name, droid, what are they all laughing about?" Atton asked HK in a smart tone.

The droid looked back at the shady-looking man, almost in disbelief that anyone would be brave enough to speak to him in this manner, "Translation: The organic is commenting that the majority of the meatbags invading this ship were eliminated during our last excursion on this vessel. Threat: There is always room for one more bloodied meatbag on the ground if you would care to join them".

"Pleasant bunch," Atton said under his breath. "How'd you fall in with this collection of crazy aliens and psychopathic droids, huh?"

The Exile answered quickly, mumbling, "Actually, I just met this crowd a few hours ago. I have no idea who they are or what business they have with me…with the exception of Kreia of course, but she's probably the most unreadable out of all of them".

"Great. I should have just stayed in my cell. I've had enough Jedi and Sith for one lifetime," Atton groaned in response.

The door in front of them opened with a menacing hiss, revealing the monstrous form of the Sith Lord, his mouth curled into a mocking grin as his expectant eyes fell onto the frozen party. Anger and fear forced Kallian into action as she unleashed a blast of Force lightning at the chalk-white form of the Sith before her, bolts of the dark side energy running along the metal pipes along the walls as arcs of the blue electricity filled the hallway. The Sith stood motionless, letting the lightning smash into his chest with a violent crackle, the smell of burnt flesh filling the air as Kallian continued to send waves of dark energy at the unmoving man.

When she finally lowered her hand, black smoke rising from crisp flesh obscured the still standing Sith. As he walked out of the cloud of smoke, Kallian looked in revulsion at the damage the lightning had inflicted: exposed ribs emerging from a blackened mass of burnt-away muscle, pulsing organs slowly regenerating without even a hint of blood, and a nightmarish face, the lower part of his jaw now cracked and blackened bone only attached by a few strands of muscle and sinew. Flames leapt from the fabric of his cloak, but he did not even pause to put them out, the orange flames rising behind him like a visible aura of the man's hate and rage.

As Kallian reached out with the Force, she suddenly felt his presence appear in the great web of life, a point of corruption warping the very fabric of the Force around it. Revan had taught her how to construct mental shields and to mask one's thoughts, but these Sith seemed to be able to completely cut themselves off from the Force at will, almost as if they no longer existed. Revan often lectured on how none of them knew the true form of evil, and now that she stood as a witness to the darkness surrounding these Sith, she tended to agree with that assessment.

The Sith's mutilated mouth twisted into a skeletal grin as he moved toward Kallian, a red bar of light appearing from his hand as he activated his lightsaber. She shivered at the look on his face, a look that went beyond the usual hate and contempt her enemies had in their eyes when they looked upon her. No, the hunger in his eyes reminded her of one person who she had almost forgotten after all these years, they reminded her of Vaughan, the bastard who had raped Shianni and would have done the same to her. Only his eyes were worse, the crazed obsession giving them a manic appearance freezing the blood in her veins. He loved violence and reveled in death, a bloody and mutilated corpse the only thing that could satiate his sick desires.

"You thought you could run Jedi?" he said with dark passion. "Wherever you go, whatever hole you crawl into, I will find you. I will drag you out and kill you just as I've done with hundreds of your brethren. You didn't really think you could escape from me, did you?"

Lux looked over to the fiery-haired woman, watching as she gripped her truncated arm tightly with a fearful grimace on her face. As he looked between the alien woman and the monster before him, he realized that the one who had inflicted the terrible injury upon her was none other than the Sith before him. He narrowed his eyes at the evil abomination, moving to unsheathe his vibrosword before Kreia placed a hand on his shoulder, holding him back with a grip far stronger than her frail form would indicate she had. "This is an enemy you cannot defeat. Do not be a fool and throw away your life in a confrontation you have no chance of winning. You were once a general, surely you realize when the situation calls for retreat rather than a foolhardy assault," she hissed.

The Sith glanced over to the old woman and his one undamaged eye widened in surprise, "You…you should haven run and hid yourself in the darkest, deepest pit of the galaxy. You were foolish to reveal yourself so boldly. I will make you regret showing yourself in front of me again".

"What a disappointment you are, Sion. You have already beheld the source of your eventual destruction, and yet you remain ignorant like a child abandoned by its parents," she said scathingly before turning to Lux. "Some battles are unavoidable. Go. I will join you later".

"You can't just fight him alone," Lux said aghast.

"I am not defenseless, despite what you may think. The point of this battle is not to defeat the enemy, it is…to learn what sacrifices will be necessary in the days ahead," Kreia said cryptically as she walked through the archway, the door sealing without any input from her.

"Well I say good riddance to the cold-hearted, old scow," Atton spoke first, earning a disapproving look from Lux.

Ragged breaths came from Kallian as she tried to calm herself after once again meeting the horrifying Sith. Zevran placed a comforting hand upon her shoulder as Lux narrowed his eyes upon seeing the gesture, a tinge of anger crossing his mind even if it passed so quickly he did not even notice it. "We should listen to Kreia. Let's get to the hangar as quickly as possible. Who knows what trouble we'll find along the way".

"Advisory: Numerous life signs detected in general vicinity of hangar: high probability of hostile forces. Anticipatory: This should be fun," HK said as he stalked forward.

* * *

Kallian aimed her blaster pistol at the white-armored soldier rushing towards the ramp, pulling the trigger and watching the red line of energy leave a blackened hole in the white chest plate. A tongue of flame emerged from the wound as the soldier collapsed to the ground as Kallian struggled to maintain her aim as the tremendous recoil threw the energy weapon backwards. She grimaced at the feel of the unfamiliar weapon in her hand, longing for the feel of a lightsaber and the thrill of close combat. Atton was hit in the shoulder as the party scrambled aboard, the impact spinning him around and seeming to cause more annoyance than injury as he cursed in multiple languages. HK-47 laid down covering fire as the ramp slowly ascended into place, numerous shots to his metallic plating failing to faze him as he fired shot after shot to the chests and heads of the oncoming troopers. With only a few inches left before the gap closed completely, HK let loose a barrage of rockets from his wrist launchers, the explosion shaking the Ebon Hawk as flames filled the hangar, cooking the remaining soldiers within their armor and the shockwave knocking the few who survived senseless.

"Get us out of here!" Lux screamed at Atton, glancing at the injured Kreia before manning the anti-infantry repeating blaster, mowing down the swarm of Sith troopers that emerged from the hangar entranceways. Atton slipped into the pilot seat, studying the layout quickly before grasping the controls and lifting the rumbling craft into the air. The Ebon Hawk rocketed out of the station in a blur as the Harbinger followed closely behind, firing turbolasers around the fleeing ship.

"Someone man the guns and shoot those asteroids! If we don't distract that kriffing hunk of junk this is going to be one short trip!" Atton yelled from the cockpit.

"There are still miners alive on the station; we can't risk their lives!" Lux shot back as HK translated the exchange to Kallian.

"Are you out of your sodding mind, shem?" Kallian exclaimed incredulously. "Who gives a sod about some miners who may or may not even be alive? If we don't do something we're all going to be sucking vacuum!"

As HK translated her angry words, Lux looked at her in shock, "You can't really be serious, can you? How can you just condemn innocents to death like that?"

"Easily," she said glibly as she pushed him aside, climbing the ladder to the topside defense turret. After getting her bearings and taking a few practice shots, she aimed at the asteroids around the Harbinger, watching in satisfaction as they exploded in a burst of light and energy. The Harbinger was rocked by the explosions as the Peragus mine was engulfed in flame, the entire complex detonating in a grand fashion, the light from the blast so blinding that Kallian had to shield her eyes.

Lux felt the deaths of numerous individuals as the Ebon Hawk disappeared into hyperspace, his face grave as Kallian dropped to the deck. He looked into her eyes, eyes that were cold and merciless. He knew that she was no a Sith, the way she felt and the obvious conflict she had with them a testament to that, but a great degree of darkness lay locked away within her heart slowly escaping to the surface. He did not understand her, why she had so much bitterness and hate buried within. She had a sense of training around her, but no master, at least among the Jedi, would ever be so negligent in allowing their student to remain so wild and emotionally unstable. As he looked at her intently, the hooded form of Kreia observed, the barest hint of a smile spreading over her lips.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry the chapter is a little late, I've been working on some other projects, and I could not really think of how to write this chapter. Thanks to all readers and to Edj Crow and khaos974 for the reviews. I might limit the time spent on Telos during the chapter as I always thought the beginning of KOTOR II on Peragus and Telos got rather tedious, as you can probably tell given the way I rushed through it in this chapter.**


	4. Pieces on the Board

"We found the bodies of the general's escorts along with a large number of rebels," the soldier said, avoiding the eyes of the man he was speaking to as beads of sweat ran down his forehead. "From what we could tell, the rebels bore wounds consistent with the general's preferred weapons and several of the escorts did as well. The bodies were pretty well picked over by scavengers, so we cannot be completely sure, but none of the corpses appeared small enough to be of elven heritage".

"And what does that mean?" Alistair said, his burning eyes boring into the extremely uncomfortable man.

"We cannot conclude from the carnage left behind that the general died in the attack, but neither can we say that she is alive either," the man reluctantly admitted. "Some of the bodies bore strange wounds like those seen in several of the massacres that occurred around the old town of Lothering. They were almost like the wounds caused by the generals weapons but more akin to arrow wounds in that they caused damage at a single point. It was difficult to even tell that much given the time it took to find the bodies and the damage from predators and exposure".

"And what of the fact that lightsaber wounds were inflicted on some of Kallian's escorts?" Alistair asked with narrowed eyes.

"The wounds did not seem to be a result of carelessness…they were too extensive for that. If I had to guess, I would say that they walked into an ambush where several of ours turned traitor," the man answered, clearly expecting the old saying about killing the messenger to hold true here.

Alistair looked as if he would explode, his face growing red and his eyes taking on a dangerous look, but the anger passed just as soon as it appeared with the man slumping back into his throne, a long sigh escaping his lips. "You are dismissed," he said in defeat.

The man bowed and quickly escaped, relief spreading over his face as he walked past Shianni and Elissa who had been observing the exchange intently. "So…they didn't find anything out," Shianni said in a deadened tone, her face set in a grim mask.

"Just because they found no evidence that she is still alive does not necessarily mean that she has passed on," Elissa said quietly, reluctant to intrude upon the grieving pair.

"Sod! I knew I should have listened when she told me of her concerns about traitors in our midst! I knew what they thought of her, but I made myself blind to it. If I hadn't of been such an idiot, such a hopeless fool…" Alistair despaired, anger and sorrow struggling for control of his fragile emotional state.

"Just because some of the nobles may have disliked Kallian, even because of her race and unusual beliefs…shouldn't be used to establish their guilt," Elissa reasoned. "It would be wise to make sure that the ones who are punished are truly responsible or else your enemies will use your actions against you".

"Why? We know all those sodding bastards were doing their best to kill her! They always had one hand outstretched while the other held a knife behind their backs as they consorted with the Orlesians and the Chantry in secret. They couldn't accept that Ferelden was changing and that it was no longer theirs to lord over! Those filthy shems…I'll make sure they pay!" Shianni raged, turning her tearful eyes to Elissa in an expression of contempt. "And you…always scheming with that snake Eamon, trying to get rid of Kallian. I'm surprised you aren't jumping for joy".

Elissa responded in an offended tone, "I would never stab someone in the back like that! It would be dishonorable and meaningless. You _know_ I'd never do that".

"All I know is that all shems are the same, even the ones you think you can trust," Shianni spat, casting a glare at Alistair.

"Now you blame the king?" Elissa asked in disbelief. "He's practically your brother in law and yet you say he is just like any other human. You are just letting your prejudices cloud the rational…"

Alistair interrupted the argument with a strong interjection, "Elissa, please…this isn't helping anything. Shianni's right, it is my fault…I broke my promise I made to her all those years ago. I am responsible, so therefore I will not give up the search until she is found. The issue of treachery among the nobles…I will deal with. If we fight amongst ourselves, we'll just be playing into their hands, so please, for now just stop fighting".

Both women were surprised by the haggard face of the man and the defeated tone he used, his eyes seemingly seeing nothing as the empty orbs swept over the two women. "If that is what you wish, your majesty," Elissa said with a nod as a look of concern passed over his face. "If I may ask…have any more reports of talking darkspawn in the south come in?"

"No, the massacres stopped around the time Kallian's party was presumably ambushed," Alistair answered with a shake of his head. "The darkspawn have been rather quiet since that whole mess in Amaranthine, even Orzammar has been relatively safe at least according to Bhelen. Rumors are that the Free Marches have become infested with the beasts though".

"Is it possible that it's not the darkspawn that attacked the villages? Maybe it's _them_," Shianni said quietly, giving Alistair a knowing look.

"Who are you speaking of?" Elissa said with a quizzical look.

"No one important you know, just demons from the void," Alistair said both seriously and with a tinge of humor.

"Demons? From the Fade you mean? Why do you think this?" Elissa said curiously.

"Not from the Fade," Alistair said with a dark chuckle. "If they're anything like her, they're far worse than any demon or abomination could ever be".

* * *

The gentle hum of the ship's engines had a calming effect on Lux as the adrenaline coursing through his veins from the narrow escape gradually subsided. He sat in the open hold of the ship, a light freighter named the Ebon Hawk, the murderous droid standing vigilant only a few feet away, its head constantly swiveling as it remained alert for any threats. Atton was still in the cockpit, familiarizing himself with the controls while Kreia and the alien Zevran were nowhere to be found. Kreia had refused medical treatment after the excitement of their narrow escape from the Peragus mine, waving away his attempts to aid her with annoyance as she muttered something about physical wounds being unimportant and some lessons only being learned from sacrifice.

Kallian sat at the other end of the room, her head resting on the metal table as she became lost in a daydream. She stared at the silver and ebony hilt of her recovered lightsaber with unfocused eyes, continually activating it and deactivating it absentmindedly. The bronze bar of light reminded Lux of the brilliant sunsets that turned the purple skies of Coruscant a fiery orange, his mind returning to the years he had spent training at the temple. As he touched the Force, he felt waves of exhaustion emanating from her along with the aching vestiges of pain throughout her body, her mind and body still recovering from the tension of the last few days.

Rising from his seat, he approached the tired woman and sat down across from her, studying her clouded eyes as he waited for her to notice his presence. She continued gazing off into space without becoming aware of him, so he decided to address her instead, "Quite an unusual color for a lightsaber".

Her eyes drifted to the source of the words, but she did not respond, her head remaining firmly placed on the cold durasteel of the tabletop as she stared at him. "This language barrier is quite the problem it seems," he joked. "Let me try something a comrade once taught me. Don't worry, I will be far more gentle than she would ever be".

He reached out a hand and placed it on the side of her head as her eyes narrowed in suspicion. A dark look passed over her face, but she allowed it after he sent waves of reassurance through the Force. Trying to remember the obscure technique after the years of disuse had atrophied his ability to call forth the power once filling him, he isolated all the knowledge of Basic in his mind, transferring it to her as his brow furrowed in concentration. It was like sending information between datapads, the knowledge in his mind being copied and imprinted upon the mind of the woman.

Kallian flinched as the strange sensation took hold of her mind, an unpleasant and repulsive feeling coming over her as thoughts and knowledge that were not her own were embedded in her memories. It felt revolting, like tendrils from a roving monster were violating her mind, the invader forcing its way into her very soul. She clenched her hands and gasped as pain shot through her head, but the calm and comforting feeling she sensed in the man's aura reduced her fear and disgust.

As he removed his hand from her head, she saw brief flashes of thousands of ships hovering over a world bathed in lightning and then the death of the Force itself. She shuddered as the images faded away as the man looked at her with a concerned expression on his face. "So, can you understand me now?" he asked as a sheepish smile came over his face.

The words he spoke were familiar and yet not familiar, and she felt the disconcerting sensation that she had always known this strange language. "I understand," she responded, her mouth uttering a foreign tongue. "How did you do that?"

Someone taught me long ago. She found it irritating scouring the galaxy and visiting so many alien worlds where people did not understand Basic or any other trade language, so she made them understand. Though when she used the technique the ordeal tended to be…less than pleasant," the Exile shrugged as he grimaced, remembering Revan's explosive temper.

"Well, I wouldn't call what you did exactly pleasant either," Kallian remarked, making her irritation with his actions clear.

"Sorry, I thought some discomfort was a small price to pay for no longer being in the dark about what everyone around you was saying," he said, using logic she could not dispute.

"Why didn't you do this earlier instead of letting me engage in a pathetic display of sign language to get my point across?" she said with annoyance.

"I could vaguely feel what you intended through the Force, and I wasn't confident in my powers so soon after recovering them to try such an advanced technique. I might have scrambled your brain or worse," Lux said in mock seriousness.

A fearful look came over Kallian's face as he said these words, "You could have damaged my mind doing that! What if I became a drooling moron after that, what would you have done!"

"Relax. I'm kidding…as far as you know," he said with a playful grin.

"Cute…so what were you saying to me before?" she said, testing the way each word sounded as she spoke it.

"I was saying your lightsaber is of an unusual color. Most Jedi use blue, green, yellow, or rarely purple. Sith mostly use red, the color of human blood," he explained.

Kallian thought back to the first time she had ever seen a lightsaber, glimpsing one in the vision she had experienced in the lost temple of Andraste, though she did not know it at the time. Revan had used a red pair of sabers, but she denied that she was a Sith, or so she had said. "It was a gift from the person who taught me about the Force. I lost its sister aboard the Harbinger, a twin blade of sky blue," she said, grimacing at the memory of her duel aboard the derelict vessel.

I take it that's not all you lost," Lux said, looking pointedly at the empty sleeve of her tunic.

"Yeah, I lost my arm saving your sorry ass. You're welcome by the way," she spoke with a glare.

"Oh…I'm sorry. I didn't mean…" he stuttered as remorse colored his voice.

"Save it. What's done is done. There's no use crying about it," Kallian snapped.

He was silent for a long moment as the woman before him steamed, her anger filling the room with tension before he responded again. "Thank you. To be so grievously injured for my sake, I don't think I can ever repay you…but I will try," he resolved.

"Well unless you want to slice off your own arm, I doubt I'll ever be fully compensated," she said wryly.

"If that's what you want. It's not like I haven't suffered worse wounds," he responded as his face darkened.

"I sense that in you…something horrible," Kallian said with a tinge of fear. "It's like the Force has been ripped from your body, leaving a gaping hole".

"Don't ask how it happened…I have no idea." Lux said, heading off that line of questioning. "So…I've never seen your race before, where are you from?"

Kallian narrowed her eyes, remembering what Revan had said about the numerous species in the galaxy. "I'm from a country called Ferelden," she answered reluctantly.

"A country? What planet are you from?" he asked in confusion.

"Ah, I don't really know…Thedas, I guess," she said, trying to answer the question somehow.

"Thedas, huh? Never heard of it. Where is it?" the Exile asked.

"The Unknown Regions, or so I've been told," she answered vaguely.

"That would explain it, so far beyond the borders of the Republic then. I guess that would make you a Thedosian or something like that," he said, trying to come up with a proper name for her race.

"More like elven," Kallian said with a laugh. "I'm an elf, not whatever you said".

"Well I'm a full-blooded Corellian from Corellia obviously," Lux said proudly.

"Where's that?" she asked with interest.

He gave her a quizzical look before responding, "You planet must be really off the beaten path if you've never heard of Corellia. It's in the Core, one of the first human colonies back before the founding of the Republic. We're not as stuck up as those Coruscanti or Kuati types. Never claimed to be the human homeworld or anything," he explained.

"You don't know what your homeworld is?" she asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, humans lost any knowledge of our homeworld a long time ago. Some other worlds claim to be it, but no one really knows. That probably explains why we have no unifying culture. Every planet pretty much sticks to its own ways. When Revan came back, I heard that she argued that Tatooine was our homeworld, something about an Infinite Empire glassing the planet and splitting the star. She was always interested in those crazy legends," he said thoughtfully.

"My people lost their homeland too," Kallian said, suddenly feeling a sense of kinship with him. "Most of us are nomads or live in the poorest section of the major cities. We don't really have a home, only where our families remain I guess".

"Well if it makes you feel any better, I don't really have much of a home either…not since the Mandalorian Wars anyway. I was exiled from my home," Lux said with a mixture of sadness and anger.

"You fought in the Mandalorian Wars?" she asked, eager to hear more.

"Huh. I guess even races from the most far-flung regions of the galaxy have heard of that war. I was a general under Revan and Malak along with Kreia too," he said, thinking back to those heady days. Things were a lot simpler back then, though I didn't think it at the time".

"You mentioned her before…you knew Revan?" she inquired.

"Not that well, and certainly not during the later battles of the war. Did anyone truly know her?" he said grimly. "Everyone loved her, the people used to fawn over her and Malak. They called them heroes, champions of the weak, defenders of justice".

"You don't think so?" Kallian asked gravely, inwardly thinking that his description was nothing like the Revan she knew.

"Some things they did…we did during the war were unforgivable. Even if she redeemed herself later and killed that blasted traitor Malak, we were all corrupted by Malachor," Lux explained as a pained expression passed over his face. "Why are you so interested in Revan anyway, even aboard Peragus you asked about her?"

"She was my teacher, the one who gave me this lightsaber," Kallian answered quickly.

"Lux did a double take at that, studying the woman intently but sensing no falseness in her statement, "Revan's apprentice, huh? She never seemed like the type to me. Too impatient".

"She's still really impatient," she responded with a giggle.

"Force, I can't even imagine. It must have been horrible to be her apprentice," Lux said with a shudder.

"It wasn't so bad…she only stabbed me in the gut with a lightsaber once. I probably deserved it though," Kallian remarked nonchalantly.

Yeah well…I doubt that such methods conform with orthodox Jedi training," he said carefully, not knowing what Kallian really thought of Revan and not wanting to offend her.

"I'm sure you got a good look at the scar too given how you eyed me up back in the mine," Kallian added, her voice adopting a dangerous tinge.

"Did I do that? I don't recall," Lux said with a mischievous grin. "I believe it was inevitable given that you were on top of me throughout the whole sordid experience".

"I have a lightsaber you know," she reminded him.

"Of that I am quite aware," he said with a nod.

"Well, it seems you owe me even more not counting my injury," she said sweetly.

"It seems so," he agreed apprehensively. "While this conversation has been extremely enjoyable, I believe I really should check on Kreia. You understand, don't you?"

"Escaping are you? Don't let me stop you. Just remember, I learned a few things from Revan…very useful things," she said with a predatory grin.

"I'm sure you did, beautiful, he responded, slinking away into the sleeping quarters.

"Beautiful? I didn't know Jedi were all such sexist pigs," she scoffed.

"I'm not a Jedi anymore," he corrected her.

"So it seems. You asked me about my lightsaber…what color was yours?" she called after him.

"White like snow. When I was exiled, I stabbed it into the ground at the center of the Council chambers. One last show of defiance…don't know what happened to it after that. It was worth it though, seeing their faces…especially Vrook, that old bastard," he said before walking away, leaving Kallian alone to consider what he had said.

* * *

Kreia was meditating in the center of the bunkroom, her severed hand apparently not concerning her at all. "Finished speaking with the alien girl, I see. I would keep your appetites in check, such dalliances always have unforeseen consequences," Kreia spoke with disapproval coloring her tone.

"I was expecting some obscure tidbits of incomprehensible wisdom; I didn't expect any romantic advice," Lux said wryly, leaning against one of the bunks. "We only met a few hours ago anyway. Don't you think you're jumping the blaster a little bit?"

Kreia chuckled, her laughter sounding like the crunching of broken glass, "You have sensed the tragedy in her past, her heart rent asunder from betrayal. Perhaps you think that you can heal that wound, provide a comforting hand to one who fears to trust, and then she might give herself to you, satisfying the lustful desire growing within the deepest recesses of your mind. It would be wise to refrain from such actions. Be mindful that from those basest of passions, that most carnal of appetites stems only weakness and debilitating attachment".

"I haven't thought anything like that!" he exclaimed in exasperation.

"Lie to yourself if you wish. The thoughts that you hide deep within, trapped in the lowest, most primitive part of your mind may not be apparent yet, but such desires remain obvious to anyone who truly looks," the woman answered with a shake of her head.

"You know that she is Revan's apprentice, right?" he asked, trying to change the subject.

"And of what significance is that? Maybe to Revan, the choice of student was important, but she is not my student. Each master takes an apprentice they feel will carry on their will and shape them accordingly. I have had many apprentices, most utter failures to be forgotten. The apprentices of my students are none of my concern," Kreia said dismissively, rising from her meditative position on the cold floor and pacing the room in irritation.

"You really have no interest her. Now who's the one lying to oneself?" Lux asked smartly.

"I will admit that my curiosity was piqued, but for different reasons than you probably believe," she admitted cryptically. "However, my true purpose here has been to find you. Even now a game is being played that you have no knowledge of. Already, the pieces are moving around the board, the players searching for openings and testing their opponents' strength. You may not realize it, but you will come to be an important piece, no the most important piece, in the coming days".

"So I am just a pawn in your game? You always had a fondness for dejarik, a fondness you passed on to Revan apparently given her rather unorthodox strategies," the Exile interjected with a scowl.

"Not a pawn, no, though they will be needed in order to open a path for you. Of all the pieces on the board, you are the only one who cannot be lost, lest the player achieve its final victory," she answered.

"And you are the one directing these pieces? What happened to all that Jedi humility, although you never were particularly blessed with that gift," he said sarcastically.

She laughed bitterly, "You think I am the one who controls the pieces? I am nothing but another piece on the board. This game is unique you see, in that it is the player who directs our movements that I wish to defeat".

"That makes no sense Kreia, what do you mean?" Lux asked as he mulled over her words.

"All will become clear in time. Eventually you will understand, but not yet," Kreia answered simply.

"More of the cryptic treatment, I see. If anything getting older has just made it worse. On that note, what happened to you? You seem far older than you should be," the Exile asked with a tinge of concern.

"The years I spent wandering the worlds beyond the Republic's reach after my exile were difficult. I have lost much, but I have gained something that makes such petty indignities seem trivial in comparison. Darkness is stirring in fortresses long forgotten by the Jedi, and even as the marshal their forces for war, an opportunity exists, an opportunity to deny them their revenge, not through strength of arms, but by attacking the very power they take for granted. It is for this victory that I have worked these long years spent alone in darkness," the old woman replied, hope and anticipation emerging in her voice as her tone took on a more obsessive quality.

"You said you were exiled like I was. I don't remember you returning to confront the masters after Malachor. I thought you stayed with the remnant of the fleet when they resolved not to return to the Republic," he questioned, studying her shrouded face for any indication of her thoughts.

"The old fools of the Council, they believe themselves wise and ever vigilant to the threats that lie beyond their limited gaze. They cast out those who threatened their grip on power, who challenged their inane belief in their own omnipotence, and therefore, they were caught unprepared for what anyone who was not blinded by arrogance and self-satisfaction would have seen: that they were sadly mistaken," Kreia spat. "They are nothing but cowards who rightly fear those who would reveal their pathetic weakness, and that is why…yes, that is why they severed you from the Force, because they feared something within you, something that would make their false power worthless".

Lux stepped back in shock, staring with wide eyes at the somber woman before him in shock. "You say…that the masters stripped me of the Force, but how, and why?"

"When you defied them and left to join Revan, you shook the very foundations on which rested their claim to authority and power," Kreia explained with distaste. "You alone returned to face their misplaced wrath, and to make an example of you, to show the mindless pawns they lorded over the price of defiance, they stole your power and left you a broken shell. Such is the justice of the great and mighty Jedi".

"I can't believe they would do that! Those traitors! Those cowardly bastards!" he seethed before the more rational part of his mind took back control. "How do you know of this? The masters may have disagreed with us, but even they weren't capable of so callously disposing of us like we were inconvenient trash!"

"They cast me out for my teachings, which in their unparalleled wisdom they declared to be the source of Revan's fall," Kreia said with disdain. "They let half of the Republic burn rather than fight against the Mandalorian threat, and you truly believe they would not punish you for defying them? If so, you are a fool".

"I still can't believe this. I need…I need to speak with them, to confirm what you have said," he said quietly, his face stricken.

"You will not find them on Coruscant; the temple is now silent, devoid of the noise and activity that once defined it. The laughing of children, the hum of training sabers, the sound of wisdom being imparted from master to student: all have faded away from the cavernous halls of the once great citadel. The assassins of the Sith have murdered the bravest and strongest who refused to hide away, and now only the craven remain, masking their presences on disparate worlds across the plane of the galaxy. Seek them out, and you will learn what must be done. I will help you along the way, instruct you with regard to a power that has withered within you due to years of disuse, and from my teachings, you will become the critical factor that will finally break the hold of the malevolent power that has held the universe in its cruel grip for time immemorial".

As Kreia finished, Lux suddenly felt a presence approach and whirled around, seeing Kallian's companion standing in the corridor. "Ah, I see I am interrupting. Please forgive the intrusion," Zevran said, turning around as Lux began to follow after him.

"We'll speak of this later Kreia. I have to take care of something," he called back as Kreia simply nodded, returning to her meditations.

"Zevran, I think that's your name. I need to borrow you for a second if that's alright with you," Lux said quickly as the dark-skinned elf turned to face him.

Before Zevran could even begin to work out what the Exile had just said, he placed one hand upon the blonde locks of the elf and began channeling the Force into his mind, transferring the knowledge of the languages of the galaxy just as he had done for Kallian and not even giving him a chance to struggle.

"Maker!" he grimaced as staggered backward, hands gripping the side of his head.

"It seems I haven't lost my touch," the Exile said pleased with himself. "I thought it might be too much expending so much power twice in such a scant amount of time, but it seems a couple years without the Force hasn't affected me that badly".

"I can understand you," Zevran said as his eyes narrowed. "More tricks of the mysterious Force I presume".

"The Force is a pathway to many abilities," he said with a shrug.

"Revan said something similar once upon a time," Zevran observed.

"So you knew her too, huh? It's surprising, she always kept everyone at arms length during the wars except for Malak, but they were always close," he remarked as he remembered days long past.

"Revan was never the most open of individuals, that is true. For how little she spoke and how seldom she took the opportunity to, she said much if you listened carefully," the elf continued as he leaned against the side of the hold. "Her reserved nature made her all the more captivating, the air of mystery and sadness surrounding her making her all the more enchanting, you don't agree?"

A look of distaste passed over Lux's face as he answered, "No, I can't say that I do. I don't know how anyone could be attracted to that ice queen, no offense. I thought you would have been more interested in your companion actually".

"Kallian? Well I cannot say that I have not admired such a rare and beautiful flower from time to time, but I have always taken an interest in such matters given the number of striking individuals I have encountered in my line of work. She was also unavailable up until recently and may still be," he said thoughtfully.

"Unavailable, who's the lucky guy?" he asked, trying to hide his interest.

"A rather foolish man given the gift he has voluntarily relinquished for something far more petty and unimportant," Zevran answered with a scowl. "It is not my place to speak of this further. For more, you must ask her".

Lux nodded as Zevran turned to leave, his footsteps echoing throughout the metal interior of the ship as he headed toward the bunks. He thought about what the man had said and his own feelings on Revan. He thought back to final battle above Malachor and again questioned who was to blame for the unspeakable massacre above the broken world. He did not need to think long on it, as he already knew the answer, an answer he had been running from ever since his fateful order.

* * *

The atmosphere of the world glowed a cerulean blue as the light from a blinding star washed over the face of the planet. The aura of the world seethed with darkness, a festering wound once again beginning to spread infection throughout the mighty web of the Force. Space warped as a black shape blotted out a section of the stars, delicate wings unfolding and doubling the size of the mysterious craft. Rays from the star bathed the shadowed craft in light, revealing an organic-looking hull pitted with craters and scarring from hundreds of battles. The central portion of the ship took the form of a menacing eye, the opaque slit like a pupil staring out in a malevolent glare. Fragile wings billowed out from the sides of the craft, sailing on the solar wind like the ancient maritime ships of old. The ship seemed almost alive, veins pulsing along its rocky form as it exuded dark side energy.

Inside the meditation sphere, a lone figure sat in contemplation, staring out at the approaching world he had not seen for over a millennium. It had been long since he laid eyes on the surface of this particular planet, a refuge from the hunters who tracked the fleeing Sith at the conclusion of the Great Hyperspace War. Recalling the humiliating defeat, the figure clenched his fists in rage, the inside of the sphere glowing a fiery red as the ship fed off his hatred. If only those fools Naga Sadow and Ludo Kressh had not let their unimportant feud interfere with the ultimate victory of the glorious Sith Empire, everything would be different now. The simpering Republic would be long forgotten and a new order deeply entrenched, an order dedicated to exulting the strong and enslaving the weak. A return to the true law of nature sullied and perverted by generations of the cowardly and pitiful who manipulated the idiotic compassion of those who should be true rulers and appropriated power that they did not deserve.

So now he returned to the place of his greatest weakness, a symbol of his despair, and a reminder of the crushing defeat he had suffered at the hands of the Jedi and their thralls. Dismissing those thoughts, his mind returned to images of his future victory, the day he had waited for over one thousand years, the triumph of the Sith Empire. He would revel in watching Coruscant burn, laugh as the symbols of the Republic and the Jedi were cast down and destroyed, watch in delight as his followers raped and murdered the unsuspecting citizens of the Republic, so secure and smug, never knowing that their end was drawing near. He would raze the worlds once held by Empress Teta and punish those who aided the Jedi during the most desperate war the Republic had ever fought in. Yes, his enemies would fall. The day his plans were realized was drawing ever closer.

He sensed the woman following close behind him, his senses telling him that she would arrive in the system momentarily. She was of no importance, only a pest to be ignored and swatted away. A cruel smile played over his lips as he visualized the woman falling at his feat, her prideful visage twisted into a mask of pain and fear. He would break her, make her see how weak and inadequate she truly was, but that would come later, as now, he was content to simply play with her.

* * *

Kallian tried to hide her fear by setting her face into a defiant sneer, her eyes rapidly shifting from the stoic form of Zevran to the expressionless face of the medical droid hovering over her. After reaching Telos, the party quickly attracting more trouble in the form of Citadel Station Security who accused the group of destroying the Peragus mine, killing hundreds of miners in the process. The fact that the allegations were true did nothing to stop Kallian from denying everything, a tactic she was used to given the difficulties she tended to cause for Alistair and Eamon back home.

Lux had whispered to her during the confrontation that it might be better to come clean, but Kallian had quashed that naïve plan. She blamed everything on the Sith aboard the Harbinger, justifying the lie by reasoning that if the dark side users had not attacked the Republic cruiser, the mine need not have been destroyed. Needless to say, the security forces had been unconvinced by the story and taken the group into custody though not without HK-47 and Kallian threatening to kill anyone who got in their way. Cooler heads had prevailed though as Lux entreated the officers to consider Kallian's injuries and allow her to receive medical attention and in return promised not to resist arrest.

Apparently security decided they were innocent since they stopped by earlier with Lux telling her and Zevran that the three of them were going after something called Czerka. So here she was, lying in a cold room on a giant artificial landmass covering a good portion of the sky above Telos with only a flighty assassin and a murderous droid to comfort her. She was lying on an operating table, waiting for the overly pleasant droid to begin treating her. The healers here claimed they had the ability to replace her arm, but they had asked her strange questions about if she had considered her decision carefully and rambled on about 'cybernetics' and 'prosthetics,' words she only had vague idea of the meaning of. To her, the answer was self-evident: the people of the stars had the ability to heal even the most grievous of injuries so why not take advantage of it?

After forcing Zevran to leave in order to keep a sterile environment, the droid placed the remainder of her arm on an extension of the operating table running perpendicular to her body. Wicked-looking instruments surrounded the semi-healed stump as metal restraints encircled the severed limb. As her eyes widened, more restraints surrounded her body, restraining her movements. She struggled against the bonds, feeling like a trapped animal as more of the strange instruments lowered into position around her body. Noticing her distress, the droid stated in a calm though mechanical voice, "The restraints are needed for your protection. The pain of the procedure is often intense enough that patients are at risk of injuring themselves through reflexive action. We apologize for the inconvenience".

Several needles entered Kallian's skin as she grimaced in pain, becoming even more disgusted as a pair of tubes snaked their way through her nostrils and down her throat. As she coughed and wretched, another spindly arm lowered another object near her mouth. The droid seemed unconcerned by her protests, continuing soothingly, "Please bite down on the mouth guard. The risk of patients biting their own tongues during surgery and significantly injuring themselves is high. Unfortunately, the importance of determining whether the prosthetic limb is connected to all critical nerve endings requires that the patient be conscious and not under the influence of anesthesia. Please try to bear with it. I assure you, the pain will be over quickly".

Kallian did not like the sound of that, but bit down on the hard but spongy material of the mouthpiece, instantly regretting her uninformed decision to go through with this procedure. "Surgery will begin momentarily. Please brace yourself and try not to struggle. The chance of injury in the event of resistance is high and will increase the required level of post-operative care".

As sweat ran down her brow, Kallian watched as a pointed instrument whirled into position over the remainder of her arm, a thin beam of light emerging from the end as it cut through her flesh. Her scream was muffled by the mouthpiece as her body arched, struggling against the unyielding bonds that kept her restrained. Blood seeped from the now opened wound, the low powered laser not cauterizing flesh like a lightsaber would. She felt sick and lightheaded, but the feeling quickly subsided as the IVs pumped blood and chemicals into her body.

She continued to watch the procedure with feverish eyes, spasms of agony again running through her body as the machine drilled a thick metal rod directly into her bone. Bolts were fastened to anchor it into place as thin filaments barely perceptible to the eye were sewn into the reconstructed bone. As the machines continued to work, Kallian began feeling a strange sensation apart from the intense pain she felt coursing through her mangled arm. She felt a dull ache in the metal parts they were attaching to her arm, almost like the steel was becoming a part of her body. A black cap almost looking like a polished stone more than any kind of metal she had ever seen was placed over the opened wound, locking into place with a horrible squelch. Screws were drilled into the sides of the cap, cutting into her flesh as more of the instruments connected them to the metal bone. The last dribble of blood slowly dripped to the ground as the cover was securely fastened though Kallian could barely see it as her eyes were filled with tears from enduring the constant suffering of the operation.

The machines worked quickly, reconstructing her elbow as gears whirred and an electric motor hummed. Thick rods were used to reconstruct her forearm, replacing the bones that once supported the structure of her hand. The delicate instruments wove more of the delicate strands inside the metal structure before sealing it off and connecting the forearm to a hand that resembled a claw more than the hand she had lost. She felt less pain now, only a dull ache where the laser had cut into her flesh. The cybernetic parts of her reconstructed arm tingled like a limb that had fallen asleep, pins and needles running across the metal structure.

Robotic arms maneuvered the completed forearm and joint into place a few inches from the metal bone extending from the polished cover. Without even a warning, most likely to cause the patient less distress by bracing for the coming agony, the forearm spun and screwed into the socket, the thin wires tightening and gathering into bunches as the whole apparatus locked into place. Lights came on around the joint as the artificial nerves connected with the cybernetic implant, the first sensation Kallian felt in her newly completed arm a series of stabbing pains. The feeling subsided as the remnant of her natural nerves compensated for the loss of an entire limb and recognized the new addition, slowly spreading the sense of touch back into her restored arm.

Barely able to stay conscious after the trying ordeal, Kallian tried moving the five sharp fingers of her new hand, watching in amazement as the cybernetic digits moved just as her real fingers would have. The droid watched her movement with interest, saying, "Ah, very good. It appears that the operation has been a success. We will need to run more tests, but for now, it would be best for you to rest and recover".

As Kallian continued to manipulate her new limb, the droid released anesthesia into her circulatory system. Her vision grew hazy and her thoughts became muddled and scattered before oblivion finally took her, a sleep much welcomed after the anguish of her surgery.

* * *

"Our mistress requires your presence," the woman said to Lux in a haughty tone, her hand tightening on her force pike as she motioned him to follow her. It seemed to Lux that they were just going from one bad situation to another after Peragus, stopping Czerka, losing the Ebon Hawk, getting shot down by more of those snarky HK look-alikes, and finally being captured by a handful of Echani. Kreia, Atton, and Bao-Dur were nowhere to be found when he woke up. He knew that the Zabrak had been knocked out in the shuttle crash, but his captors refused to answer him when he asked about his erstwhile subordinate's whereabouts and condition.

Walking toward a large platform placed over a yawning crevasse, Lux's eyes widened as he beheld a woman he had not laid eyes on in years, the woman he thought had cared for him but had treated him with savage spite during his final appearance before the Council. "So you have finally returned, Exile and as what? Perhaps as a vanguard of the Sith searching for the last Jedi stronghold, or simply as an avenger seeking payback for the wrongs you believed you suffered, or maybe simply a broken man too long without the use of the power that once defined him?" she said, a bitter smile on her face.

"It's been a long time Atris," Lux said, looking over the face of the woman he once knew so well. She looked the same but also different, her face becoming lined with age and stress, her eyes having lost the bright quality that once defined them only to replaced with cold ice, and once silky hair that was split and dried out from the cold of this hidden fortress.

"Not nearly long enough, Exile," she spat.

"I have a name you know," he spoke with a tinge of anger.

"None that I wish to speak. You lost the right to be called anything by me when you left with the traitor Revan and her ilk to go chase after a threat the Council warned them was only a diversion. You were a fool like the rest, and now we must all suffer the consequences," she continued with anger melting the iciness of her blue eyes. "Tell me why I should not condemn you for the destruction of Peragus, the murder of innocents, your corruption of the Jedi Code".

"We had no choice in the matter. The Sith were seeking the last of the Jedi, and they caused the destruction of the station in their attempt," he explained.

"The Sith sought you out as the last of the Jedi? _I _am the last of the Jedi, not some fallen pretender to the title. You expect me to believe this?" she said condescendingly, giving him a mocking glare.

"You were always prideful…your greatest weakness. I think you may have taken it a little too far," he cautioned, sensing something dark stirring within her.

"You dare to lecture me? You of all people who betrayed the Jedi, joined with the rebellious Sith, and defied the Council?" Atris exclaimed in shock.

"I never betrayed anyone. I followed my heart and did what I thought was right. We may have made…mistakes along the way, but I'll never regret the decision I made that day," he argued, strength returning to his voice.

"So defiant, I remember the last time I saw you, Exile. You stood in the center of our chamber and stabbed your lightsaber through the heart of the room, and in doing so, you cut yourself off from the Jedi forever," she said as she activated a lightsaber, its white glow casting a pall over her already pale face.

"I see you kept it. Any chance I could ask you to return it?" He asked, already knowing the answer.

"This is the weapon of one who serves the Jedi, who abides by the rule of the Council. One such as you forfeited the right to use this weapon," she chided, deactivating it and placing it back under her robes.

"The Jedi are not children the Council can lord over like strict parents. The Council only guides and advises, never ruling as you say," Lux disputed.

"And see where such an attitude has led us to: the Jedi all but destroyed, the forces of darkness preparing to crush the Republic, all to satisfy the foolish rebelliousness of those who never should have become Jedi," she sneered, her façade of calm eroding with every word.

"You say you are the last of the Jedi, you are mistaken. The other masters still live if hidden for the moment. I am seeking them out, both to rebuild the Jedi and to have them answer my question: why did you cut me off from the Force?" he asked gravely.

Atris laughed shrilly at this, her eyes wide with manic humor, "You are a fool, Exile. Look to yourself for why you lost the ability to use the Force. If the universe were just, you would have never recovered your ability to yet wreak more havoc across this darkening galaxy. I have seen what company you keep and the evil she will lead you to just as she did with that disgusting woman. Go, do as you like. I will continue to gather the knowledge of the old masters and wait out the coming storm".

Lux watched as the woman turned away from him, disappearing behind a heavy door as her servants came to collect him. They returned him to a separate chamber where they all stood motionless, arrayed in a circle around the large room. He noticed that all of the women seemed to share the same features, all except one who continued to send furtive glances his way, her eyes always shifting away from his when he caught her staring. Sighing, he approached the woman and stood before her, studying the differences in appearance between this servant and the others. She was shorter than her companions but retained the silver eyes and white hair that spoke to her Echani heritage. There was something familiar about her face, a resemblance he could not quite place, but he dismissed the strange feeling and said to her, "You wanted to speak with me".

"Ah, no Master Jedi. I am sorry if I bothered you. I was just curious…the mistress is the only Jedi my sisters and I have ever seen," she stuttered, looking away from his gaze.

"I'm not a Jedi anymore," he corrected as he reached out to her with his senses, feeling the untapped power within her along with a strong sense of longing and hope.

"I apologize, our mistress told us that you were once a friend of hers, one of the greatest of the Jedi of the era," she rambled before catching herself as her sisters fixed her with disapproving looks.

"It didn't sound like she thought of us as friends, quite the contrary in fact," he said with some surprise.

"I should not be speaking of this…Mistress Atris' thoughts are her own, and it is wrong of me to reveal them," she said apologetically. "If you do not mind, may I ask you a question?"

"Shoot," he answered quickly.

"What…what is it like to feel the Force? We have sworn an oath to guard the Jedi, but we have also sworn never to use its power for our own. Could you please describe it for me?" she asked, looking in embarrassment and concern at the glares of her sisters.

"It's like…it's really hard to describe. Imagine if you were trapped in a room with the only connection to the outside world being a small keyhole. Everything you knew about the world, you could only see from that small gap. Now imagine that the door was opened, and you could step outside for the first time. Seeing the world without any restrictions for the first time…that is like seeing the galaxy through the power of the Force. I cannot really do it justice by trying to describe it…it is far more wondrous and unfathomable than anything I could describe in words," he explained, straining for some kind of description that would make her understand.

"I…thank you. I have always wondered what it would be like to touch the Force, the power that binds all things in the universe together. I wish…no, I should not be thinking of such things," she chastised herself.

"What's your name? I'm Lux by the way," he asked.

"I am simply one of the handmaidens of Atris. It would not be right for me to reveal my true name; it would be a violation of my oath. I'm sorry, you have done much for me and I cannot return such a simple favor," she responded with a pained expression.

"No, I understand the importance of oaths to the Echani. One of your people fought with us during the war, a great general named Yusanis," he reminisced.

She flinched at that name, a shade of pink appearing on her face as she spoke slowly, "Yusanis betrayed his oath, and for that he was shamed. Even his achievements and the honor he gained in dueling Revan could not overcome the stigma".

"Oh, I didn't know. What oath did he betray?" he asked, not believing that the honorable and stoic man he once knew would ever betray anything.

"It is not for me to speak of. It was a great shame upon him and upon…those he left behind," she answered cryptically, turning away from his gaze.

"_So…it's something personal to her,_" he thought, glancing around at the woman's sisters, once again noticing that only she looked different than all the others. "Well, good luck. Perhaps we will have an opportunity to speak again on another occasion," he said as she nodded in agreement, the Exile suddenly feeling a sense of resolve forming in her mind.

He freed Kreia and Atton from the force cages and helped an injured Bao-Dur to his feet after leaving the central room. Atton seemed strange somehow, the way he was glaring at Kreia, not that this was particularly unusual, told Lux that something had happened between the two. He was unusually quiet as they left for the Ebon Hawk, his mind betraying nothing as the strange barriers that deadened his senses remained firmly locked in place. Bao-Dur winced as he lagged behind, his injuries only causing him a little discomfort rather than being completely debilitating.

"You okay," Lux asked him, turning to the Iridonian.

"You know I've had worse injuries, General," he laughed, gesturing to the self-built bionic arm.

"Just checking. We don't want you collapsing when we need you. Who'd fix the ship then?" he joked.

"I'm glad you've found a use for me. I was upset that Atton had already filled the role of comic relief," he deadpanned in the calm voice he always used.

"Laugh it up you sons of schuttas. Who'd pilot the kriffing ship if it wasn't for me?" Atton interjected.

"Maybe T3, I guess," Lux said, considering the question for a moment.

"Yeah, let the tin can pilot. I'm sure that will end real well," he said sarcastically.

"I doubt it would make much of a difference, neither the machine or this fool possesses a brain to complete even the simplest of tasks," Kreia said in a mocking tone.

"Well sorry your highness, I'll make sure next time that you won't have a fool carting you around the galaxy," he continued angrily.

"Even fools have their uses," she observed with a sinister smile, before turning to Lux. "What did you learn from Atris?"

"Not much, she pretty much blamed the whole Jedi Civil War on me," he laughed, not really wanting to think about the encounter.

"The weak always blame their shortcomings on the stronger. She has stayed too long in this icy cage, cut off from reality. Her mind now only sees black and white, but she is blind to the color that most of the galaxy takes on, the color of gray between light and dark," Kreia spoke, something like smugness taking hold of her tone. "Perhaps she will learn before it is too late that it is pride that goes before a fall, or perhaps it has already blinded her to the truth. It matters not, her role in this is still far down the line. Her piece need not be moved so early".

* * *

The dark figure stood in the center of the temple, his eyes taking in the fallen columns and the shattered statue of a woman he had not thought of for hundreds of years. He smiled cruelly, his hand reaching down to grasp some of the corrupted ashes, the power of the dark side still running through the crumbling remains. He thought back to the desperate days after the fall of the Sith Empire, the end to the Golden Age of the Sith, and remembered coming to this primitive world. He remembered encountering the girl, the Force so strong in her that she warped the very fabric of life around her. His brethren had used this world to test ways to shatter the Force, to corrupt and adulterate it into an even purer form of the dark side. The efforts had failed, leaving abominations no more useful than the terentateks that remained scattered around the galaxy. The wound in the girl, however, now that had been interesting.

The legacy of he and the other Sith alchemists on this world had caused a hole in the Force that affected those who felt its power. He had believed at the time that she would be a useful weapon to wield against the Jedi, a wound in the Force with the power to destroy the vey bonds that connected the Force to all life. Sadly, she had been a failure as well, her arrogance and stupidity setting her against her own master. She believed it was true power to rule over the rest of the fools on this world, to bend their pathetic minds to her will. He showed her true power when he stripped the Force from her, watching her burn in satisfaction as he tasted the sweet flavor of fear from one who though her miniscule power could somehow challenge the Dark Lord of the Sith. Now another thought she could usurp the title from him.

"When I first stepped in this place, I knew this was all your doing. The dark side is strong here, too strong to be a result of a fool tainted by the darkness. No, it had to be you," a woman's voice spoke from behind him. He did not turn around, continuing to watch the remains of his apprentice slip from his hand as wind blew through the drafty space.

"So you have come. How long will we continue this game, my apprentice? You cannot defeat me, I have shown you that fact on numerous occasions," he spoke angrily.

"I'm not your apprentice. If so powerful you are, then why do you run?" Revan remarked, eyes flashing behind the transparisteel of her visor.

"I have little time to waste with a child who wrongly believes she can challenge the Lord of the Sith," he answered, turning his face toward the masked visage of the woman behind him.

"On the contrary, she laughed, "time is all you have".

"And that is why my victory is inevitable. Even if you strike me down a thousand times, even if you could strike me down once, I would simply rise again. How can you kill something that has no end?" the Sith Emperor mocked, his red eyes glaring at the cloaked figure before him.

"Nothing is unending," she lectured, activating one end of her lightsaber and pointing it at the dark robed Sith. "Not even the Force".

* * *

**A/N: Despite what I said earlier, it seems Revan is indeed going to be involved in this story. As I was writing this chapter, it just seemed necessary to give her a larger role even if she is not involved for the moment in the main plot. Again, thanks to all readers and to khaos974 for the review.**


	5. Where Every Man is Enemy to Every Man

The air grew thick with tension as Revan leveled her crimson saber at the dark figure before her. Those mocking eyes narrowed at her challenge, rage flashing in the blood-red orbs. Debris vibrated on the stone floor as power escaped the Sith Lord's body, the bright web of the Force bending to his strength. Throwing back the cloak that shrouded his body, Revan saw a jagged sword with a blade darker than the void of space hanging from his hip, corruption and darkness emanating from the ancient Sith blade. He did not reach for that weapon though, instead grasping the carved hilt of a lightsaber, its engraved form decorated with letters of a long-forgotten language. The weapon took on a more organic appearance than the sabers currently used, the length of it seemingly constructed from bone with twin fins rising from the focusing lens like a pair of claws. As he activated it, the weapon hissed and screeched as red lightning emerged before the blade extended, the ancient weapon screaming as the beam of energy left a vacuum wherever it moved.

He gripped the laser sword in both hands, pointing the shining bar of light toward the ceiling as Revan crouched low to the ground, pulling back her saber and extending an open palm toward her opponent. She had barely entered her ready stance as his first attack caught her off guard, his blade slamming down from above. Revan avoided the blow, sweeping her weapon down to cut at his legs as he nonchalantly stepped away from the measured strike. Turning once again with the momentum of her first strike, Revan again slashed at the cloaked Sith, but her blade hit nothing but empty air. Ducking quickly, she felt heat wash over her back as a burning lightsaber singed the woven fibers of her cloak. She had no time to recover as a descending blow cut apart the stone floor, vaporized rock filling the air as his lightsaber screeched like a frightened animal.

Rising to her feet, Revan looked into the crimson eyes of her opponent, his face still partially obscured by the cloth folds of his hood. He chuckled malevolently, tracing the edge of his saber across the floor and sending acrid smoke billowing all around them. She brought her saber parallel to her body, the red light of the blade reflecting off her opaque visor as the Emperor flicked his weapon upwards toward her face. She jumped back, lashing out with her own saber even as the Sith Lord smashed his own against hers for the first time in the duel. Red lightning ran across Revan's body as the synthetic crystal of his weapon sent pangs of agony though her body. Her lightsaber shorted out, the crimson blade sputtering and disappearing even as she activated the other side and knocked his follow up attack away.

It had been an unwelcome surprise the first time she fought him and found her weapons woefully inadequate for the task, the intense charge of his ancient blade shorting out the electrical wiring in her own weapons and rendering them unusable. Only a fool allows herself to be taken off guard twice, so Revan had installed backup systems in her sabers in preparation for just such an occurrence and shielded the power cores of her dual weapons so redundant systems could still run in the event of failure.

She backed off, shifting her grip along her saber's hilt and switching to the secondary capacitors. Red light erupted from the fizzling focusing lens as she did so, the double bladed lightsaber extending to its full length. Spinning it around her hands as the dual blades hummed, she brought down one side onto her opponent's waiting blade, the pain of the electricity coursing through her body not even fazing her. The Emperor attempted to break through her defense with a series of quick strikes, his blade snaking around her guard as the two weapons crackled like lightning cutting through the atmosphere. He drove her back with superior strength, inflicting blow after blow as Revan began climbing the platform where Andraste's ashes once rested.

Ascending to the top of the altar, both combatants exchanged furious blows, the blades of light brightening the dim temple as voices seemed to whisper all around them. Revan's spinning blade cut through the remnant of the statue of the bride of the Maker, sending the marble sculpture to the ground where it shattered. Leaping in the air, Revan brought her blade down where the Emperor stood with that mocking smile, cursing as he dodged away even as the impact of her landing cracked the stone platform they battled on. He attempted to attack from behind, but Revan stabbed her saber backward, smirking in satisfaction as she contacted the Sith Lord's side even as he spun away. He made no sound at the injury, his eyes betraying no pain, not even a sign that he had felt the hit at all, even as his saber impacted Revan's armored shoulder.

Revan quickly twisted away from the strike as she tossed aside her now flaming cloak, the cloth unable to withstand the tremendous energy of his fiery blade. She spared a quick glance at her shoulder pauldron, doing a double-take as she stared in shock at the blackened, smoking gouge in her armor, the Mandalorian iron it was constructed from that even lightsabers could not penetrate unable to withstand the power of this determined Sith Lord. As her gaze returned to the face of the Emperor, she saw in the smug look he bore the knowledge he had of her surprise and the unstated words on his tongue that all her power, all her armor and weapons and skill, were worthless before his might.

Scowling, she twisted the hilt of her weapon and separated the two sections, sending one saber careening at the Sith even as he somersaulted away from danger. She did not let him land without challenging him as she sent a wave of Force power toward the airborne man, watching in satisfaction as he was smashed into the ground with a sickening thud. The snapping of bones and the unmistakable noise of flesh being pulverized filled the air as Revan laughed, descending the stairs toward the pile of rags and meat that was her opponent. The Emperor wasted no time in rising to his feet, bones snapping back into place as his limbs twitched in a ghastly manner. His neck crunched as he aligned it with the cracked portion of his spine. Hate now burned in his eyes as he snarled at her, screaming, "Your attacks are meaningless fool! They are nothing more than the annoying stings of an insect, insignificant!"

"The bite of an insect can fell even the mightiest of creatures. Your arrogance blinds you, and that is why you cannot hope to defeat me," she responded in a measured tone.

The Emperor charged her as she struck down with both of her blades. The furious dance continued throughout the ruined temple as the energy emanating from both fighters shook the cavernous space, causing pieces of the sagging roof and columns to collapse. As he swung at her with another wild attack, Revan batted it away and left a smoking slash across his chest with an expert flourish of her offhand weapon. Overconfidence proved to be Revan's worst enemy once again, as even before she finished her attack, the wily Sith Lord trapped her weapons with a downward strike while simultaneously pulling his hidden sword and pressing it to her armored abdomen.

Revan gasped as burning pain ran across her gut, the black blade of his sword cutting through her armor like the metal was merely paper. She backed away while brandishing one blade even as her other arm pressed against her stomach to prevent her organs from pushing through the severed muscle wall. Staggering from the blinding pain paralyzing her body, her vision swam as she vaguely saw the Sith Emperor approach, weapons in both hands. She struggled to heal herself but fear ran through her as the connection she felt with the Force slipped further away, "_Poison_," she thought even as the venom ran through her blood like acid, killing her cells and deadening her connection to the Force.

Blood pooled at her feet as Revan collapsed to her knees, her mind fighting to maintain a grip on consciousness. "Arrogance, is it?" the Emperor chuckled. "Those who point out others' flaws can seldom see the same weakness in themselves. My confidence stems not from pride, but from knowledge of the extent of my power. Before me, oh _Dark Lord of the Sith_, you are nothing more than a pawn who has outlived its usefulness".

Revan thought back to her younger days in her delirium, her thoughts returning to memories of Malak and Kreia. Even as the Force slipped from her grasp she remembered the words of her friend, brother, lover: I won't send you off with a 'may the Force be with you' because you already know, Revan, that the Force will be with you…always". And the words of Kreia: "My apprentice, when I look upon you, I see the heart of the Force. Banish the words given to you by those fools regarding your destiny from your mind; the power you have within surpasses the restrictions that word implies. Destiny is meaningless. Simply live…that is the best advice I can give you".

The Sith Lord stood over her as she bowed her head, his cruel eyes fixed upon her defeated form as a ragged sound escaped Revan's mouth. At first he thought she was coughing as the hoarse sound of air slipping past gritted teeth filled the air, but as he continued to listen, he realized she was sniggering. It was low at first, barely audible beyond the hardened plate of her mask, but the spasms of out of place chuckling emanating from her kneeling body soon transformed into a chorus of manic laughter, the sound filling the devastated chamber as waves of amusement cascaded off of her.

She rose to her feet still holding the wound, her shoulders shaking as she tried to contain the laughter continuing to rise within her. As the visor of her mask became fixed upon his crimson eyes, he saw twin sulfurous orbs shining through the blackened transparisteel, their gaze watching him with glee. A look of surprise came over the Emperor's face for a brief moment before the stoic mask once again took a firm hold on his features. The brief hesitation came at a price as a torrent of Force power slammed into his body, forcing him back several steps before his feet dug into the fractured ground, his body withstanding the assault like a mighty tree withstanding the force of a gale. Behind him, the very bones of the mountain gave way, exploding outward as rock rained down on the face of the decapitated peak. The chamber groaned as the ceiling cracked and gave way, but the cloaked figure stood his ground, chunks of stone and debris disintegrating around him as electricity crackled around his steadfast form.

Growing tired of the display, the scowling Sith Lord brought his own power to bear, tearing the remaining part of the mountain peak from its base and casting it into the air, watching as the great mass of rock impacted a distant crag with an ominous rumble. The freezing wind whipped around them, the remnant no longer protected by implacable walls of stone. "Quite a display," he said sarcastically. "The Force flows through you stronger than any being I have ever encountered, but like any other power, it can be neutralized".

Jagged bolts of energy ripped through Revan at his command, the attack creating wounds in the Force as it ripped apart the very web of the unifying power itself. The armored form of Revan shivered and twitched as if in a seizure as her opponent continued to unleash more of the Force-killing energy. He sneered as she collapsed to the ground, once again falling to her knees before him. "And so it ends my foolish apprentice with you bowing before me, just as I have foreseen," he cackled, a vicious grin spreading over his distorted visage.

A red saber punched through his chest, burning through flesh, muscle, and bone as Revan's smirking face appeared next to his. He looked over in horror and surprise at the unmasked woman, her arm pulling his neck back as she held the saber impaled through his back and back to the contorted body before him only to see nothing but a blackened scar marring the stone floor. "Those who rely on their eyes are the ones who are truly blind," she lectured.

"How?" he asked with an agonized gasp.

She shrugged in response, "They say these types of tricks only work on the weak minded, but when you see what you want to see, it makes it all the easier to make someone believe. Plus…there is the fact that you are a fool".

He chuckled at the last comment, saying with a nod, "So it seems…but it seems that label could apply equally to both of us".

Revan's eyes widened as the man she had pinned lashed out with a quick elbow, breaking her nose and sending her sprawling backward. She jumped back to her feet, wiping away the blood streaming from her face as her opponent deactivated her saber and threw it aside. "The old masters say life cannot exist without the Force," he mused, turning his flaming eyes once again to the face of his erstwhile apprentice. "Such are the idiotic teachings of the Jedi. True power…is freeing oneself from the curse of life and the grip of the insidious Force. I have no master but myself, and therefore…I will end only when I will it. That is why for all your power, for all your strength and guile, your efforts are ultimately futile".

"Say what you want…your power is simply a puzzle to be solved and then countered," Revan spat, summoning her weapon to her grip and reigniting the crimson blade. "I'll find a way…there's never been an opponent I could not defeat, and you will not be the first".

"Tell me _Revan_, why did you choose that name? Is it because it was given to you by the pawns who worshipped and idolized you?" he said as he narrowed his eyes. "No, it is because you understood, however vaguely, what drives the pathetic beings of this galaxy, the singular purpose of vengeance. I was curious about you when you first came before me, so young and filled with hate, curious about the vengeance you sought, and I thought we shared a certain similarity. And since we are similar, you must know that I cannot fall, will not fall, until I have avenged myself upon the fools who denied me my rightful victory".

"You're just a bitter, old man who has lived far past the time he was meant to. I'm nothing like you," she responded coldly, gray eyes filled with the chill of eternal winter.

He laughed at her words, looking to the sky with interest as a gash of a smile appeared on his face. "Stay here and consider my words for a while, and perhaps you too will see why we are the same".

Revan's cold eyes radiated confusion before she realized his intent, her outstretched palm crackling with lightning as she lashed out with an electrical storm to prevent him from trapping her on this primitive world. The Emperor blocked the attack without even glancing at it, his eyes fixed upon a ship orbiting far above the surface of the world. He crushed the hull of the fighter without a gesture as Revan seethed in anger, her lightsaber descending toward the smug man's head. He blocked the strike with the blackened blade of his sword, forcing her back with a savage swing of his own weapon. "Do not worry yourself. I will make sure you are kept well entertained during your time on this verdant paradise of a world," he laughed, focusing his mind on manipulating the throbbing wound at the heart of this diseased world.

Revan felt the tear in the fabric of the Force widen and fray, darkness sending ripples throughout the vast web of light, sending pain and dread through the minds of all the beings of the world. Corruption stirred deep under the surface, the legacy of profane Sith rituals twisting and perverting into an even more grotesque and monstrous form. "You hut'un! You think you will escape so easily!" Revan raged as she grasped hold of his body in the Force, crushing it beneath the weight of all her anger and hatred.

He paid no attention to her attempts to attack him, instead focusing his power at the ground below them, splitting the mountain apart as fractured rock collapsed in great landslide. Revan rode the flow of rock through the dust and smoke down to the valley below, no longer sensing the presence of her elusive opponent. Rising to her feet, she glared at the sky as a glimmer of the dark presence flickered and just as quickly disappeared. Her hands balled into fists, and she bit her lip in frustration, drawing a trickle of blood as she swore, the word echoing across the jagged peaks, "Fierfek!"

* * *

Kallian's eyes fluttered open as the images in her dream slowly slipped from her grasp like grains of sand. She felt a sense of foreboding, a certain wrongness she could not quite place, but the sensation faded even before her eyes adjusted to the light. Sitting up, she looked over to a sleeping Zevran and an ever-vigilant HK standing at attention beside her bed. "Observation: It seems you are awake, meatbag. I sincerely hoped you would recover, yes, very sincerely hoped," the droid said in a snarky manner.

"Don't pretend you don't care, HK," Kallian said with a grin. "I know you would miss me if I got done in".

"Commentary: Yes, my sadness at your untimely demise would be quite debilitating. I do not know how I would continue to endure in this life. Perhaps I would kill something to make the pain disappear," he agreed in a morose tone.

The harsh synthesized voice caused Zevran to stir in his slumber, glassy eyes opening as the assassin looked upon the stretching form of Kallian. "So you have finally awoken, my dear. It sounded like you were undergoing the worst tortures of the Crows during your operation. It puts my mind at ease to see you up and alert," he said with a smile. "You and our murderous friend are now a matched pair it seems".

Kallian watched as Zevran's eyes quickly jumped away from the foreign monstrosity now attached to the remnant of her arm and back to her face. She did not want to look at it, acknowledge its presence, but she could not just ignore the metal limb now connected to her mangled flesh. The machine whirred and hummed as she moved it, the spindly fingers clicking as she clenched her artificial hand. The fingers were affixed with soft material on the inside to make holding objects easier, but the ends were sharp as daggers, metallic claws wrapping around each tip like the paw of a cat. Minor pangs from the surgery still brought a grimace to her face, a dull ache still throbbing where the prosthetic was connected to her flesh.

HK-47 appraised her newly restored limb with a nod, saying, "Observation: It seems you have finally realized the superiority of cybernetic brilliance over fleshy mediocrity. I approve".

"Kallian removed the IVs and sensors from her body with a snarl, averting her eyes as rivulets of blood formed on her arms as she tore the needles out. Rising to her feet, she wobbled after not standing for a long period but managed to stay upright. "If I knew that this is what they meant be replacing my arm, I would have just kept it as it was," she said with a tinge of anger, taking a few deliberate steps to test her balance.

"I don't know," Zevran trailed off with a grin forming on his face. "I think it looks quite good. It gives you a dangerous air, very alluring no?"

"Armor I can never take off is alluring?" Kallian said incredulously.

"The harsh angles and smooth surfaces, the delicate fingers and savage claws, truly you must be far too self-conscious if you cannot see the beauty in such things," Zevran said reproachfully even as his smile grew broader and more warm.

"Thanks, Zevran," Kallian said with a blush despite being fully aware through the Force that he was simply attempting to make her feel better. "Are the others back yet?"

"We're supposed to meet them at the docking bay. Apparently they picked up a few new comrades," Zevran answered. "Building a team, traveling constantly, walking into the unknown with danger all around…where have I experienced this before?"

"Well at least then we weren't dealing with immortal enemies then, oh wait…" Kallian joked, throwing on her robes without bothering to tell Zevran to look away, not that he would comply anyway.

"Yes, it seems this is our purpose in life: to confront the greatest of enemies the fates can throw at us. Not a bad life by any means, far better than the one I left behind," he concluded as the trio began the long trek to the hangar.

* * *

"What are we waiting here for?" the Handmaiden asked impatiently as Lux sighed.

"We have several other companions who stayed behind when we went to take care of the problem with Czerka down on the surface. We're waiting for them," he told her in an exasperated tone.

"Other companions? Are they like that scoundrel of a pilot?" she said in contempt.

"I don't know them that well. They seem like an alright sort…except maybe for that droid of theirs," he responded thoughtfully as the loading ramp descended, signaling the arrival of the trio.

He saw Kallian's eyes narrow as soon as she caught sight of the handmaiden, suspicion rising in the air as she directed the Force at the woman at his side. A cybernetic limb now extended from the singed fabric of her sleeve, replacing the arm she had lost rescuing him. She still wore the standard Jedi tunic he had first seen her in, but she had apparently altered the sleeves to only fall to her elbows as both forearms were exposed, probably for the sake of balance given the damage to the garment. Her remaining arm was wrapped in what looked like bandages up to the tips of her fingers, streamers of fabric fluttering in the drafty interior of the ship. She scowled at the pair of them as she once again began moving forward, a look the handmaiden returned as her features darkened.

"Who in Force's name are you?" she asked petulantly, not even trying to be accommodating.

"That is quite the way to greet someone you have never met before. Apparently common courtesy is beyond you. It shocks me that a Jedi would act this way," the Handmaiden responded condescendingly.

"Maybe because I'm not a Jedi," the elven woman shot back.

"I apologize, I saw your robes and assumed. I should not have insulted the Jedi in such a way by labeling you as one," she continued with a glare.

Kallian returned the contemptuous look, studying the woman's features as her mind searched for something to say in return. She looked human enough except for the shining silver eyes, which were an impossible color for a normal human to bear. "Whatever. I don't have time to be exchanging insults with some person I don't even know. I'm Kallian, that's Zevran, and the tall one is HK-47," she said, pointing out the pair behind her.

"You may call me what you wish…it is not my place to reveal my true name," she answered.

Kallian frowned at this, becoming increasingly irritated before snapping, "What's with the mysterious act? Why can't you just tell me?"

"The Echani value honor highly…they do not break oaths willingly," she dodged while looking away.

Seeing the look of confusion on Kallian's face, Lux decided to intervene and explain, "The Echani are a warrior people much like the Mandalorians…"

"Don't compare us to those animals!" the Handmaiden seethed, glaring at the man.

"My mistake…_not_ like the Mandalorians. Kallian is from the Unknown Regions and is rather unversed in the general state of the wider galaxy. Maybe you could teach her about your people," he urged, trying to defuse a potentially dangerous enmity between the two.

"Perhaps," she said quickly, appraising the smaller woman. "I guess that explains why your species was unfamiliar to me though I admit that I am not the most experienced in these matters".

"Well…why don't you two have a little talk. Get to know each other. I have to speak with Kreia in the meantime," Lux suggested as two pairs of furious eyes caused him to shrink back.

"If it is your request I will abide by it, Master Jedi," the Handmaiden said with distaste.

"Please call me Lux or the Exile if you must give me a title. I'm not a Jedi anymore, and even if I was, I would not be judged as a master," he said with a tinge of exasperation.

The Handmaiden seemed taken aback by this, stumbling over her words before responding in a small voice, "If that is what you wish, Exile".

The woman beckoned to Kallian who reluctantly followed her into the cargo hold. She seemed tense, ill at ease over being on this ship, or at least that is what Kallian sensed from her otherwise disciplined mind. "So, you're an Echani. Are you just a certain people among the humans of this galaxy or another people entirely?"

"There is enough similarity between the two races that they may interbreed upon occasion. Other than that, we are a separate and distinct people," she answered with a slight shake of her head. "You speak of humans like they are unified. Perhaps on your world your people were as one, but in the wider galaxy it is best to look to worlds of origin when discerning loyalties. A human from Corellia is rather distinct from one born on Alderaan for instance".

"So you are loyal to the Echani?" Kallian asked with a confused look.

"I am loyal to the Jedi…though few remain. I have trained since I was a young girl to serve and protect the members of the Jedi Order. It is a great honor, one that I scarcely deserve. In these dark times, the Jedi are needed more than ever. It is a worthy cause to rebuild the Order and repair the damage the Dark Lord Revan wrought in her madness," she answered with a mixture of pride and sadness.

Kallian scoffed as the Handmaiden's eyes widened in shock, "Revan told me that the Jedi were useless cowards who refused to fight to uphold the duty they owed to the Republic. From what I've seen so far, which isn't much, the Jedi are exactly as she said. Look what they did to Lux".

"The Jedi are the guardians of peace and justice throughout the galaxy! They are our greatest hope against the Sith that stalk the shadows, waiting to strike while the Republic is at its weakest! The opinions of the traitor Revan are meaningless! She and her followers betrayed everything that they held sacred, giving in to the most contemptible of passions and desires! They had no honor…and no regard for the people they hurt through their actions," she protested, her eyes ablaze with anger.

"Revan taught me everything I know about the Force. She was a crazy bitch…but she wasn't the person you make her out to be either. How would you even know? It's not like you knew her," she finished with a glare.

"She taught you…then you are her Sith apprentice?" the Handmaiden said dangerously.

Kallian laughed, shaking her head as she responded, "I don't think I would even qualify for that title given how short of a time she taught me, and anyway, Revan never thought of herself as a Sith".

A disbelieving laugh escaped the Handmaiden's lips as she shook her head, "Never thought of herself as a Sith? It does not matter what she thought. I am sure all Sith believe their actions are justified and believe the chaos and destruction they sow is perfectly legitimate. She was the leader of those fiends, a traitor to her oath".

"So what if she was? It's not like I'm her. I didn't even know her when she was fighting out here; I was a little kid!" Kallian said dismissively.

Silver eyes looked at her closely as a sense of discomfort came over Kallian. This woman wielded the Force even if the power was buried deep within her, her piercing gaze seemingly cutting right through her mental shields. "You may deny what you are…but the darkness within cannot be hidden," she said quietly.

Kallian scoffed, her eyes trying to avoid that silver glare, "You don't know anything about me".

"True," she answered to Kallian's surprise. "Spar with me then, and perhaps we will learn something of each other".

"I don't see how you can learn anything about someone by fighting them but if it passes the time…" Kallian said with a shrug, her saber flipping from her belt to her open palm.

The Handmaiden looked at the low ceiling of the cargo hold with a scowl as she said, "It will be difficult to move in such a confined space, but a warrior must be prepared for all situations, I suppose". She removed a silver staff from under her cloak, the tube extending to a length almost spanning the distance from floor to ceiling.

Kallian removed her robe, throwing it aside as she dropped into a ready stance. Activating her lightsaber, she pointed the bronze blade toward the ceiling as she gripped the hilt with both hands. It felt strange holding only one weapon, a situation she had not been confronted with since the debacle in the Circle a few years back. She felt like her balance was off, the difference in stance and form making her feel more open and exposed. Her new limb did nothing to dispel the feeling, the foreign nature of the mechanical monstrosity making her nervous about even using it. As she wrapped the metal digits around the grooved hilt of her weapon, she grimaced in revulsion, the strange sense of touch her artificial fingers produced like the feeling of teeth crushing ice.

A warning flashed through the Force as Kallian dodged a quick jab of her opponent's staff, her neck bending into a severe angle while the weapon stabbed through the air where her head had been. Bringing her saber down, she forced the Handmaiden's staff to the ground before sliding the hissing blade along the length of the silver weapon. For a second Kallian believed that she would have to stop her attack lest she slice the woman in half, but her eyes widened as the silver eyed woman disappeared from her sight. A blow to her legs took her off her feet, and she landed painfully on her back. As her sight swam from the impact with the hard, durasteel grating, she saw a staff pointed at her face and a disappointed visage looking at her with a bemused superiority.

"I see you were not lying when you said you were not a Jedi, but even so…I thought an apprentice of Revan would prove more of a challenge," she mocked, holding out a hand to pull her up.

Kallian slapped the hand away, her cheeks bright red with embarrassment as she fumed, "I was injured recently…I'm out of practice. Come at me again and I'll show you how much of a challenge I can be!"

The woman rolled her eyes, not even taking a stance as she held her staff with a loose grip. Kallian lashed out with her saber, the movement feeling awkward without the counterweight of an off-hand weapon. The Handmaiden dodged the attack, moving lightly to flank the lunging woman as she swept her staff along the grated floor. Seeing the attack through the Force, Kallian jumped over the sweeping strike but was unprepared for the reverse end off the staff as her opponent continued twirling. Holding out her saber to block the whirling blow, she was lifted further into the air and sent sprawling back several feet.

The Handmaiden opened her mouth to make a comment, obviously a condescending quip given the wry look on her face, but her unfinished words were quickly strangled into a shocked gasp as Kallian hurtled towards her, bronze saber aimed straight for her heart. The power within her mind, long locked away and hidden, a stigma born from a love that should never have been, stirred as she watched the fiery blade lunge toward her. Her staff struck the saber as an electrical squeal filled the room, her free arm darting forth to grab her opponent's sword arm and twist it downward. The woman before her only smiled gleefully, flaming red hair not able to hide the maniacal spark in her blue eyes as she laughed savagely.

A metal hand smashed into her neck, metal claws cutting into her skin as she struggled to breathe. That insane grin filled her vision, a smile promising death filled with the cruel humor of the Sith. Dropping her weapon, she punched the smaller woman in the stomach and twisted her leg around with a deft maneuver of her own, using her greater weight to lift her up and slam her to the ground. She collapsed with the red-haired alien, the metal claw clamped like a vice around her neck even as she used her knee to try to choke the Sith apprentice into submission. The red-haired woman's eyes rolled back into her head as she lapsed into unconsciousness while the Handmaiden's vision swam with the blackness of asphyxiation beginning to rob her of her sight.

Her lungs burned, all the strength began to flee from her body, and her hands involuntarily began pathetically grasping at the spindly fingers wrapped around her neck. The power imprisoned in her mind called for her to set it free, to make use of the strength that could win this fight and free her from the cold grip slowly choking the life out of her, but she refused, knowing that death was preferable to the shame and dishonor her father had suffered. Making one last futile attempt to wrench the claws from her neck, she vaguely felt Lux rushing from somewhere in the ship, obviously aware of the fear and desperation sending ripples throughout the Force.

Closing her eyes, she suddenly felt power like a crashing wave smash into her body and send her flying. Pain exploded in her head as she crashed into the unyielding wall and blackness filled her vision. As she lost consciousness, she spent the last of her energy trying desperately to contain the flood of power within her, a power she had locked away but could not be contained forever.

Opening her eyes, she found the brown eyes of Lux looking straight at her, concern evident in his gaze. Momentarily stunned, she examined his face, noticing the subtle lines on his face speaking to the trying ordeals this man had endured over the decades in an unforgiving galaxy. She noticed the tiny wrinkles around his mouth and eyes, the type appearing only on the faces of those used to laughter. His dark eyes contained kindness but also a heavy sadness that left him with a haunted look. With his face as close to hers as it was, she could not help but to blush before she quickly turned away.

The alien stood a few feet behind the crouching Lux, her mouth set in a frown and those cold eyes looking at her with distaste. Even though the Handmaiden did her best to lock away the hateful power within, she still felt the fiery hate rolling off the grimacing woman along with a small tinge of embarrassment. She could not tell if the loathing was primarily directed at herself or self-directed, most likely both.

You sure gave us a scare there…are you alright?" Lux said with a halfhearted grin, pulling her up as he got to his feet. "I didn't expect that you two would try to kill each other during your first meeting".

"We were just sparring," Kallian spat. "You didn't have to interfere. We're not little children you have to look after".

"I don't think training involves trying to strangle your opponent to death," Lux said with an eye roll, pointing to the deep cuts on the Handmaiden's neck as he tried to bandage them before she pushed his hand away and completed the task. "You may not be children, but from what I've seen, you lack experience in the use of your powers. You said your time spent with Revan was limited, and it shows. The general I knew would never allow someone so wild and undisciplined to fight on the battlefield".

The Handmaiden's eyes widened in surprise at the sharpness of his tone, his warm eyes filled with irritation and disappointment. The alien woman also seemed surprised with his normally wry and humorous tone now serious and cold. The woman's face reddened under his gaze, and she avoided his eyes much like a child would do when faced with a parent's anger.

"Train with me, Kallian. I may not be a master, but I can continue teaching where Revan left off. You're still young with much to learn. If we were back at the Temple, you would still be a padawan with years to go before your knighthood," Lux said, causing both women to look at him with surprise.

"What? You want me to be your dutiful, little apprentice? There isn't a sodding chance…" she began in a disgusted tone before the Exile cut her off.

"Nothing so formal as that. You have so much power…I can see why Revan was so interested in you, but as you are now, you waste your talent. I only wish to help you to control your power and harness it," he urged, trying to break through her distrust with sincerity of his own.

She looked reluctant, but Lux noticed a certain hunger buried deep within her gaze, a look of desire appearing for a second in those eyes much like shards of ice. As he studied the twin orbs, the cold blue seemed to flicker a sickly yellow for a brief instant, but after he blinked in surprise, the shadow that seemed to have come over them had vanished, and distrustful eyes once again bored into his own. "Will everyone out here fight like that Sith," she paused, shooting a glare at the Handmaiden before continuing "and her?"

"Any Force user you meet out here will probably have some training…" he trailed off, trying to think up a diplomatic response before giving up and saying seriously, "I knew many Jedi who fought in the wars, most of whom did not return from them. If you had been there with us at your level, you would not have survived for long".

Kallian sighed at his words, remembering the suffocating terror she felt looking into the mutilated face of the Sith Lord as he crushed her neck in a fist feeling like steel rather than flesh. "I guess it couldn't hurt," she said after a long silence.

The Handmaiden scoffed before Lux shot her a withering look, not interested in breaking up another potential brawl, "You know…it might prove beneficial if you sparred with Kallian more often. Echani discipline would probably help to refine her wild technique".

"If that is what you wish," the Handmaiden said in monotone, displeasure written all over her face.

"It's not what I wish," Lux quickly interjected with a degree of exasperation in his voice. "I just think that it would do you both some good to train together. If you don't want to, it's not like I'm going to force you or be disappointed if you don't".

She looked at Kallian out of the corner of her eye, the enmity between them obvious for anyone to see. "I she is willing, I will be willing also…if she agrees to control herself during combat".

"And I'll agree if you promise to stop being such an insufferable bitch," Kallian answered under her breath.

Before the seething woman could respond, Lux spoke first, "Now that that's settled, perhaps Kallian and I can help you in return".

Her eyes darted back to Lux's, silver irises clouded with suspicion, "What do you mean?"

"In Atris' compound, you asked me what it felt like to feel the Force. I felt something in you then, buried deep within you. When I felt the strong emotions rolling off you during your fight with Kallian, I felt it again…but strange and warped," he spoke before looking at her pointedly. "I don't understand. I feel so much shame within you, but it is another's shame, not yours. The Force is with you, but you keep it locked away. Why?"

The woman looked like she wanted to escape, her eyes that of a trapped animal. She tried to stammer out a response but her voice faltered, "This power…this Force…is a curse upon me, a stigma. I know well how my sisters looked at me…as a mistake, a shame upon their mother and our family. I honor the face of my mother, a woman who led my father astray and brought shame upon us all. She wielded this power…this reminder of betrayal that now lives in me".

Lux studied her face, suddenly wondering why she seemed so familiar to him. She was beautiful, he admitted readily, her pale skin set with full lips and vivid silver eyes, but there was something about her face that was just beyond the gaze of his mind's eye, a name on the tip of his tongue. His eyes widened as he remembered, the shock numbing his body and rooting him to the spot. Kallian looked at him questioningly, obviously feeling the turmoil within him before his mental shields snapped back into place. "Your mother…do you know her name?" he asked quietly.

"Yes though I never knew her. She was a Jedi named Arren Kae. The only thing I have of her is this robe," she answered, pointing to a shimmering gray cloak folded with her other possessions. "It is said that she was…"

"Revan's first master," he finished, his eyes darting away from hers, almost as if he was looking through the bulkheads toward another part of the ship.

"Yes. The Jedi are forbidden to love. She was exiled from the Order and my father was dishonored for abandoning his family. Their betrayals now lie with me," she finished, her fierce look daring anyone to comment.

Kallian was the first to respond, crossing her arms and saying in a combative tone, "I thought that Revan's master was…" She did not finish her sentence when she felt pressure on her mind, and looking over to the source, she saw Lux shaking his head and mouthing a warning.

"Revan had many masters, Kallian. Kae was wise and powerful; Revan learned much from her both before the wars and as our comrade during the worst of the fighting. And while this may be interesting, I don't see how someone else's indiscretion is your own. Kae may have broken the Order's taboo against love and Yusanis may have left his wife, but those are their decisions and the resulting consequences are theirs, not yours. You shouldn't punish yourself for the sins of your parents. You have been given a gift, not marked with a curse".

"You do not understand. What my father did was unforgivable. As his child, I must live to restore his honor and not besmirch our family name," she argued, anger beginning to color her words.

"How wouldn't I understand? I left the Jedi to fight a war the masters did not support, and I was condemned for it. Your father left to fight in that war as well, and there he found love, and from that love you were born. All of us make choices that we believe in and others hate us for. Your father was one of the most honorable men I have ever known. He died to defend his people from falling under the shadow of the Dark Lord. The man I knew…he never would have wanted this for you," the Exile urged.

"Mistress Atris," she began with her voice wavering, "she believed that this path was best for me. Too many Jedi have already fallen into darkness, and with my…parentage, she believed the risk was too great".

"If that is what she told you then she is a fool," Lux growled. "She's changed. The pride within her…I believe she fancies being the last of the Jedi. She wouldn't want a challenger to that title".

The Handmaiden looked scandalized at these words, saying, "How can you say that of her? She who once sat on the High Council, one of the wisest of the Order…she would allow herself to be tainted by such petty jealousies. She was your friend…how can you speak of her in this way?"

Lux grimaced, knowing he had gone too far. "I didn't mean that…mostly, but I do think that if she went along with this, she was absolutely wrong in doing so. The Jedi are dying," he admitted as both women studied him intently, "and if we are to rebuild them, we'll need every Force sensitive we can find. That's why we need both of you, both to stop the Sith and to make sure the Order endures".

"I…I will think on this," she said, a slight tinge of pink coloring her cheeks.

"I don't understand what the big deal is anyway. So your father went and screwed around with your mother, so what? That's not your problem. Force, if everyone in the old alienage went insane when their spouses slept around, there wouldn't be any of us left," Kallian added with a wry grin.

"Which would not necessarily be a bad thing," the Handmaiden muttered.

"We have a long journey ahead of us. I don't want to force you into anything, so just think about what I've said for now. We can speak about this more later," Lux said, trying to take the pressure off her.

"I…I will consider what you have said, and perhaps…" she trailed off.

The Exile nodded at this, knowing that though she desired to make use of her ability, the influence of her family and the none-to-benevolent pressure of Atris weighed on her thoughts. She would need time, both to finally let go of the stigma that defined her and to discover the Force surging through her. She avoided his gaze, but the conflicted emotions within her shone through the Force like a beacon. Perhaps this was the best result the he could have hoped for. "Well…I have to go for now, so try not to kill each other," he joked before considering how likely such a scenario was.

As he exited the hold, Kallian studied the Handmaiden with an amused gaze before finally saying, "So…want to go another round?"

"Forgive me, I must decline. I believe I have already suffered enough for the time being," she deadpanned, gesturing to the now red bandages around her neck.

"Oh, sorry about that. I'm still trying to get the hang of this monstrosity," she answered in a singsong voice, smirking all the while studying her artificial limb.

"Your sincerity is touching," the scowling woman said with a glare.

"And here I thought the sarcasm was so obvious. I'm a better actress than I thought," responded Kallian with a laugh, patting the woman on the shoulder.

The Handmaiden clicked her tongue in annoyance, but Kallian could feel the inner laughter rising within even as she turned away.

* * *

So…you have brought another unwanted stray aboard this vessel," Kreia said in an appraising tone as soon as Lux entered the bunkroom. Kreia sat meditating in the center of the hold facing away from the entrance, her presence a mere shadow. "If you continue to collect these lost ones and neglect the darkness spreading from the fringes of the galaxy, what little you accomplish by taking them in will prove even more meaningless than such an empty gesture already is".

"Unwanted, huh? Perhaps there is more truth in your words than you intended," Lux answered coldly, leaning onto the cold durasteel of the doorframe.

Kreia did not turn to meet his gaze, her small figure still fixed to the spot in the center of the room. "Words seldom have one meaning. If you were wise, you would not listen to mere symbols of a person's intention and focus on the true feeling behind them. But wisdom is seldom learned by teaching. Life is the best teacher as you can attest to".

"Atris," the Exile intoned, waiting for Kreia to respond. When she said nothing, he continued. "Why did she not speak to you? You were once the historian of the Order, a role she also shared. She made no sign that she even acknowledged your presence".

"Perhaps she did not acknowledge it. The fools see and hear what they want to," she answered calmly. "If you search for wisdom, the masters of the Jedi are not the ones to look to".

"That is no answer. I asked her about what you said…that the council stripped me of the Force. She did not confirm it…but neither did she deny it. She seemed to find the question humorous," Lux continued seriously.

"Atris…" Kreia said the name like it was something particularly distasteful. "Seldom do we see the cliff before us…and even less so when we have already fallen. Atris is of no consequence…let her cultivate her foolish pride and false superiority. Her role in this game lies far in the future".

"Can nothing be simple with you? Every question is answered with more ambiguity," he responded with annoyance but Kreia continued to look away.

"The simplest questions are often those that cannot be answered. What do you want from me? To confirm your suspicions? To silence your doubts? You know what she has become…you need no answer from me," she spat.

"Did she not wish to speak to you because of your exile? Then why would she speak to me?" he asked.

"Those who condemn others most vocally often have the very same feelings buried deep within their hearts. They deny them, and when they judge others, they judge their own hearts," she said with a tinge of bitterness. "Fools. They have such fear in them…and fear leads to the dark side". She laughed cruelly, a laugh that caused Lux to shiver as ice water seemed to drench his body.

"You told me they exiled you for your teachings. They judged you for Revan and Malak's fall," the Exile said carefully.

Kreia turned to him at these words, her sightless eyes seeming to see through him. "Is there a question in those words?"

"Why ask what you already know the answer to?" he said as the hint of a smile played across her lips.

"Yusanis…a grand general who joined Revan in her quest to destroy the Mandalorians, later slain by the same woman in a misguided attempt to regain his honor. How idiotic…honor is meaningless. Revan knew this," she continued, displeasure coloring her cold tone.

"And?" he urged, leaving no doubt to his meaning.

"Do you know why the Jedi condemn love between members of the order? Do you know why they take the occasional child born to a Jedi away from her mother? It is because family exerts a powerful influence on one's development. To the Jedi who fear attachment, such a connection is to be broken and forgotten, but the Jedi are not completely wrong. A child must know freedom, to be free to struggle and fall without the meddling of a parent, to become strong. It is better that such a child grow as she will, take the path that she chooses, rather than cage her in the expectations of family. For a child strong in the Force, such feelings regarding family can be…dangerous," Kreia explained, still holding Lux's gaze.

"You believe that?" he asked.

"It is not what I believe…the truth seldom conforms to our preconceptions. Now leave me…the smuggler's moon approaches, and I must meditate before the growing noise drowns my mind in the desperation and angst of the hopeless and forgotten of that disgusting hole," she said with finality, leaving Lux to consider her veiled words.

* * *

A dark wedge cut through the void, its blackened hull almost disappearing in the darkness of a space. Massive gashes and gaping holes decorated the ruined hulk, lending the ship the appearance of a ghostly wreck, searching for a battle long since ended. Faded crimson markings decorated the shattered armor of the wreck, a testament to the time when the ship once followed its sisters into war, serving as the spear point piercing through the once invincible body of the Mandalorian fleet.

The interior was unnaturally cold, the vacuum of space only held at bay by the will of a being who, like its ship, existed as only a shell, a desiccated carapace serving as a vessel for a mass of dark power. A few crewmembers shuffled through the halls of the broken ship, their faces gaunt and pale, eyes no longer holding the spark of life. They were walking corpses, kept alive only to do the bidding of their dark master even as he leeched the last of their lives away. Those that died were left where they fell, the others walking past their corpses like mindless drones. The dark being paid their deaths no heed, its gnawing hunger focusing its gaze far away, searching for elusive prey.

He stood at the center of the bridge, masked visage staring out into the endless reaches of space, senses constantly focused on the barest glimmer of the Force, roving tendrils of power spreading throughout the farthest reaches of the galaxy. A cloaked figure slowly approached him, rich robes draped over her cowed form. He felt her fear, shifting his senses toward her as his hunger became unbearable, the succulent taste of her power too much to resist. He turned to her, his mask like a skull as the empty sockets bored into the cloaked woman.

"Master…Sion claims he has found the last of the Jedi, but he let her escape," she whispered, shrouded face turned away from the imposing figure. "I too have felt something in the Force…a disturbance. It may be the last of the Jedi".

His anger filled the bridge as the room trembled, a terrifying sound emerging from his throat like the screams of millions of the suffering and tortured. The crew shuddered at the sound, some falling to their knees in agony and others convulsing at the sound of his voice. The woman before him shook, her fear growing as the rage emanating from the dark figure caused the shattered hull of the ship to groan. He reached out a hand toward the bowing woman, power taking her by the throat and lifting her into the air. She gasped and wheezed as he clenched his fingers, tendrils of corrupted energy tightening around her neck. His rage blinded him and the pain of his hunger fueled it, the wound within him growing to consume all life in the vicinity.

"You…you are the darkness in which all life dies, milord," she spoke in a strangled manner, fear coating every word. "Please master…end it…kill me".

His anger surged at her words but just as quickly subsided. His clenched fist opened and his apprentice fell to the ground gasping for air to fill her burning lungs. He approached the crumpled woman, reaching out one gloved hand to touch her almost tenderly. The woman flinched at his touch, her veiled face turned away from the mask and the bottomless sockets where eyes should have looked out from. Hatred once again surged through his form, his hand closing into a fist as he roughly pulled her from the ground with the Force. His apprentice shuddered as the terrible sound of his voice ripped through the air, questioning her, invading her mind.

"I…I can find her milord…and bring her to you," she spoke as power crushed her slight form.

He looked at her for a long moment before turning away, allowing her broken body to collapse to the ground. She shook as she struggled back to her feet, bowing low before shuffling away. The terror did not leave her as she left his presence, the wound within him ripping and shredding the Force as his insatiable hunger sought the power of the living to fill the aching void. She knew that he would not stop until he consumed everything, all life vanishing into the corruption that once was a man.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out. With finals, the holidays, and a good deal of writer's block, it has taken way longer than I expected to write this chapter. If it seems disconnected and choppy, it is probably because it was written in tiny segments over the past month or so, and I'm not really happy with it after rewrites and editing. I am not really sure where I want to take this story. Next up is Nar Shaddaa, and hopefully that chapter proves less frustrating as this one. Thanks to everyone that reads and to Lord Monbodo for the review of the previous story. Since I probably will not update in the next couple of days, I wish everyone a happy new year!**


	6. Through Me You Pass into the City of Woe

Alistair leaned against an ornate wooden column, his eyes roving over the capital through the towering window decorating the upper reaches of the palace. He looked at the delicate spires of the chantry still covered with scaffolding, the previously white stone of the soaring edifice now blemished with black scars from the flames produced by darkspawn torches. He smiled a little to himself, remembering how Kallian had angrily berated him for even considering diverting money from the treasury to restore the ruined church. She had felt that the country's limited resources were better spent building housing for the displaced or trying to improve the shattered economy. Needless to say, such an opinion had not endeared her to the clerical faction in Ferelden nor with the faithful though she took such action for their benefit.

The recent work to repair the structure only reflected her absence, the subtle changes in the city she called home beginning just as her influence began to wane with her disappearance. It had been months since she left to pacify the rebels in the south only to vanish, her guard serving as carrion for beasts of the wilds. His attempts to search for her had turned up nothing, only whispered rumors of a monster with burning eyes that killed with fire from its grasping claws. They found no trace of this creature, and all sightings of it ceased after Kallian disappeared.

Alistair's brow furrowed as a grimace came over his face, the pain he felt from her absence still raw. He remembered her face at their last meeting, the defeat and sadness in her icy eyes. She spoke words then that lacked the biting quality he knew so well, the passion and fire that defined her. She looked like a woman without hope, tired and beaten down, able no longer to defend against the many enemies that constantly hounded her. It was his fault, he knew, his own indecisiveness and idiocy that had caused this. He knew the pressure she was facing both from internal and external threats, but he had ignored it, not willing to defend her from the blows that wore her down. Instead, she protected him, a shield to deflect the malicious attacks of his enemies and a sword to keep the self-interested sycophants at bay. Now she was gone, and he was alone.

The vultures had wasted no time in descending to rip apart her reputation now that she was not present to defend herself. The Chantry gave praise to the Maker, telling how His justice had finally found the sinful maleficar. Nobles within the court questioned whether she had used blood magic to control him like some kind of malevolent puppeteer. They laughed in private but fell silent when he entered the throne room, their wolfish smiles silently mocking him. Talk had even reached him of rumors that their child had been fathered by another elf and had been killed to keep the truth from getting out. None of them questioned that the elven whore would resort to infanticide to keep her grip on the reigns of power. After hearing this, Alistair had exploded, demanding that the source of these malicious rumors be brought before him, but the snakes remained hidden among the treacherous nobles.

He wondered about the monster with burning eyes and what role it had played in Kallian's disappearance. Before the blast of psychic pain overtook his senses, he feared that she had found their current relationship hopelessly irreparable and silently left to build a new life. He regretted thinking that now; it had been his own despair and resentment that led to these hateful thoughts. Kallian was far too strong to abandon everything and flee from an enemy. If she was anything, she was a fighter and would never admit defeat in anything. Her face at their last meeting had haunted his thoughts though, and even now, a small part of him feared that it was true, that she had left him and everything else behind. Lately, his thoughts constantly returned to the monster that produced fire from its hands and he remembered Revan. Had her enemy come to this world, the ones called the Sith? If they had, why had they sought out Kallian, and where was she now? Was she even alive?

He continued looking through the window, a cold breeze stinging his eyes as storm clouds gathered to the west. The haze from the approaching clouds turned the sun a strange hue, blood red like an open wound. As it slowly dipped toward the ground, he could hear the faint rumbling of thunder in the difference. The color of the sun reminded him of the past, both the worst and most wonderful time of his life, the trying days of the blight when the taint of the darkspawn horde even corrupted the sky. He looked into the crimson orb shimmering in the haze and remembered the red sky of those days and her face silhouetted against the darkening heavens. Even in the twilight, he could still make out her comforting smile, wry and full of laughter.

He turned away from the coming storm, trying to recall every detail of her face but the images in his mind growing continually distorted. Everyday that she was not with him made her bright eyes and warm smile slip further from his mind. Alistair feared that one day he would not be able to recall how she had looked or remember how her voice had sounded. His memories of her seemed to fade more as time went on, but the wound her absence left in him refused to heal.

The deserted hallways of the palace only darkened his mood further as he reluctantly walked to meet Eamon in the throne room. A representative of the Chantry had apparently arrived, eager to restore the relationship between Ferelden and the faith the vast majority of its citizens shared. Eamon was in very good spirits, the disappearance of Kallian allowing him to begin undoing the often-radical reforms implemented in the aftermath of the blight. Alistair knew that most of the nobles regarded him as a figurehead with the real power vested in his advisors of which Kallian and Eamon were dominant, and he could not dispute their opinion. He remembered how Kallian told him on so many occasions that he would be a wonderful king, a ruler who would not ignore the needs of the wretched and poor. So firmly convinced was she of this that he had almost come to believe it himself, but he knew that even with good intentions, a good result seldom came to pass. He knew he was a poor leader, and what was worse was that Eamon knew it too.

Approaching the massive doors to the grand hall, he saw Elissa standing by the entrance waiting for him. She smiled as he came closer, but he saw that the smile hid a sense of nervousness, or was it fear? Even as her face became a pleasant mask, he could still make out the troubled look that darkened her features before she caught sight of him. "Your Majesty, I'm glad that you have arrived. The chancellor is not the most patient man as you well know," she smirked. "I believe he might have sent for the royal guard had you arrived a moment later".

"Well Eamon's always been mildly obsessed with protocol. I'm sure he's kept the Grand Cleric quite entertained without me," he said, looking at Elissa's attire with a bemused grin. "Armor? I'm surprised Eamon didn't force you into a frilly dress considering how those Orlesians regard us backward Fereldans".

She frowned at his words, her tone serious as she said, "It is no secret that the Orlesians would jump at the chance to reoccupy our country. I think it is best to show our independence even if it only amounts to a trivial gesture of defiance. Eamon has long lobbied for the reestablishment of the Chantry in Ferelden, but I question appointing an Orlesian to such a high position".

"He didn't really have much choice given that Kallian pretty much slaughtered the entirety of the priesthood in Ferelden," Alistair remarked dryly.

"I am sure that a few sisters of the Chantry escaped unscathed. Better to have an inexperienced initiate born and bred here take the position than some senile, old harpy tainted by the intrigue of the Empress' court," she said scathingly.

"Now you're starting to sound like Kallian. If there's one thing she despised more than us idiot _shems_ it was definitely shem priests," Alistair joked.

"In her absence, someone has to stand up for the good of this nation," Elissa quipped as a smirk crossed her face. "Although her hatred of us _shems_ apparently did not include you, Your Majesty".

Alistair chuckled before saying, "If you had met her at Ostagar, I think you might have a different opinion. For a while there I thought I would start thinking 'filthy shem' was my name, and on that note, please stop all this 'Your Majesty' or 'My Lord' nonsense. Just call me Alistair".

"I couldn't possibly! You are our king!" she said in a scandalized tone.

"It's not exactly a role I chose, mind you. I've never felt really comfortable with all this formality. We're friends, aren't we?" he asked.

"I'm honored that you would think of me as such," she said, looking away with cheeks aflame. "I also think…very highly of you".

"I'm glad, but…we've been standing here for awhile. Eamon's probably organizing that search party you warned me of right about now," he said, gesturing to the doors.

As he moved to open them, Elissa could not stay silent any longer. "Alistair…there is another issue that will be addressed at this meeting. Eamon intends to, well, he feels that the issue of your marriage has been delayed for far too long".

Alistair gaped at her as he tried to find the words to respond, "My marriage? My marriage to whom? I never agreed to this".

"That is what he wishes to discuss," she said seriously.

"I should have known that this was a trap," he said, eyes darting about looking for possible escape routes.

"Even if you did flee, the chancellor is not so easily evaded," she joked, trying to bring a little levity back into the discussion. "Truthfully though, you are king, and as such, it is your duty to provide an heir for this country. Given the nature of Grey Wardens, Eamon believes you have already waited too long. This country will need a successor lest it fall into civil war again".

"I know this. Believe me, I have heard the same lecture many times before," he responded with a tinge of anger in his voice.

"You say that so dismissively. Arl Eamon may harp on the subject, but he only does so because he fears for the fate of this nation…as do I. The fact is that the chance of you and your potential wife conceiving a child is low and grows even more unlikely with each passing day. You may not like it, but sometimes duty must trump our more selfish wants and desires," Elissa said sharply, surprising Alistair with her brusque manner.

Alistair's mouth hung agape at her cutting tone while he searched for a response. "While it may be true that it is my duty…" he began before she interrupted.

""You may not believe that the Maker graced you with the temperament or will to rule, but this country relies on you no matter how you see yourself! Think of Kallian! She believed in you enough to ensure the throne was yours, and she defended your position from all enemies, even against the combined might of the Chantry and Orlais! But everything will be in vain if no one is to follow after. The scavengers will once again emerge to tear this wounded nation apart," she argued in a raised voice before a look of embarrassment came over her face at the outburst. She apologized quickly for forgetting her place, her eyes darting from Alistair's stunned face to the ground.

The king grimaced, his own doubts only growing at her pointed words. "No need to apologize…I think I needed that. Kallian would always reserve her harshest words for when I was moping and feeling sorry for myself. I just…during the blight, I relied on her. She was our leader, a far better one than I could ever hope to be. She inspired us, made us believe even when facing the impossible. The archdemon would not have fallen had she not kept us going. At the time…I felt like I would never leave her side, but she's gone now, and I'm alone," he spoke quietly.

"You are not alone. Eamon, brother, and I along with the people of this nation…we all believe in you. It must be painful to lose Kallian, and I realize that you felt strongly about her, but…is there no chance that another could ever take her place in your heart?" Elissa asked, turning her gaze to an apparently extremely interesting stain on the stone floor.

"I don't know. Kallian is…I cannot even describe her. Casting her aside would be like cutting my own heart out," he mused, trying to make her understand something he could not fully understand himself.

"You would not be casting her aside. She must have known that this day would come. Perhaps…that is the reason she has failed to return," she continued slowly, trying to gauge his response.

Alistair remembered her words before their final parting, the despair and hopelessness reflected in her icy eyes. "Before she left…she said something of that sort, but I know that is not why she hasn't come back," he responded, strength returning to his words. "Something happened in the south beyond her control…I'm sure of it".

"You loved her, Alistair, but sometimes our responsibilities interfere with such things. Sometimes those we love are taken away from us…and there is nothing we can do. Dwelling on what you cannot change will only make it more painful. I know very well the pain of losing loved ones," she said in a pained voice.

Silence fell between the two as Alistair brooded on her words for several long moments. "And who is the unlucky woman Eamon forced into this? Do I even want to know?" he said in a light tone, trying to change the subject.

Elissa jumped at the question, her words becoming convoluted and halting as she tried to respond, "Ah, well, you see…Eamon has been in discussions on this topic for some time now as you can most likely guess. He feels that the potential union must strengthen Ferelden and serve to unite the nobility…not to mention solidifying your hold on power, so…to the point…Eamon thought that I would be the best choice". She paused for breath, looking distinctly uncomfortable before saying as an afterthought, "Not that I feel unlucky or that I am being forced into this. Please do not take it that way. I simply seem unable to express myself properly on this subject. Forgive me".

Alistair stared at her blankly before giving a one worded response layered with disbelief, "You?"

His questioning tone made her even more nervous as she stammered, "Ah yes, indeed it is me. If you are displeased, I mean, I am sure this must come as a shock, and I am sorry for ambushing you with this…but I was loath to let you walk into that meeting uninformed of the chancellor's plans".

"You agreed to this?" he asked quickly.

"I did. I felt that our potential marriage would be in the best interest of the nation," she explained before realizing how blunt and political that sounded. "Not that that is the only reason. I mean…you are a fine and honorable man. More than that…"

She trailed off as Alistair tried to take hold over a situation that was rapidly spinning out of control, "Elissa…I'm happy you feel that way, but I don't think I can do this. Kallian is still out there, somewhere. I can't betray her, not like this, not when she could be in trouble," he said in an agonized voice.

She moved closer, extending a hand even as he flinched at her touch, "She knew that this day would come eventually. She knew that the two of you were not meant to be together. I am not doing this just for the good of Ferelden, I confess, but because of the feelings I have for you. Do you feel nothing for me? You called me friend…it cannot be possible that you do not feel something".

Alistair was taken aback, but despite his misgivings he could not control his wandering eyes as they focused on her face. He had not noticed before, but now looking at her, he realized that she was very beautiful, long, raven hair framing a pale, alabaster face set with eyes like dark pools reflecting the night sky. She had a strength to her, an indomitable will that made her stand above her peers. "As a friend perhaps…" he confessed, his words being cut off as Elissa cupped his face in her hands, full lips brushing against his. Alistair's surprise was such that he could not push her away, her lips lingering on his before she took a step back.

"I am sorry…but I cannot hide what I feel any longer," she said as her eyes once again shifted to the ground, an apologetic tenor to her voice.

Alistair did not know what to say. Part of him felt a definite attraction to her, but another part only felt self-loathing and disgust at this betrayal. He could only stammer out, "We…we should speak of this later," before he brushed by her quickly, walking swiftly into the great hall.

Eamon stood with an older woman in yellow and red robes, her cold eyes appraising him like a hawk studying prey from high above. He inwardly sighed, preparing himself for another round of political intrigue, a game he certainly lacked the skill to play. Eamon may have been in his element, but he could already tell by the appraising look the old woman gave him that she considered him an inept puppet, easily manipulated and even more easily controlled.

"Greetings Your Reverence, how good of you to meet with us on this auspicious day," he began magnanimously, smirking at the slight eye roll of the Grand Cleric.

"And to you, Your Majesty. The Divine is pleased that Ferelden is finally taking steps to reconcile with the hallowed Chantry of the Maker and His Beloved after these trying years of strife and woe," she answered smoothly in a thick Orlesian accent.

Elissa, who before the woman spoke had been trying her best to look invisible, snickered under her breath at the comment, receiving a dark look from Eamon in return. "I do not believe that Ferelden ever left the embrace of the Chantry, Your Reverence," Alistair disputed. "The difficulties between Ferelden and Orlais should not have affected the relationship we have with the Chantry. What troubled us was a question of politics, not a lack of faith in our Maker".

Her eyes narrowed at the carefully chosen words, "So you say, but a trail of bodies left by accursed heretics and maleficarum tells a different story. Some in your court seem to believe that tolerating a demon amongst you and belief in our Maker are not mutually exclusive. I would remind Your Majesty that the Maker looks upon those who consort with demons and maleficarum the same as the sinful abominations themselves".

"Your Reverence, this is a time for forgiveness and reconciliation. The events of the past should play no role in our newly mended relationship," Eamon cautioned, trying to steer the conversation away from dangerous territory.

"You may wish us to forget that this court was once the den of all manner of filth that blasphemed against all we hold dear, but we shall not. Her Reverence the Divine was most distressed by the chaos that erupted as a result of your straying from Andraste's teachings, but she is willing to forgive though not forget," the old woman threatened in a poisonous tone.

Alistair stiffened at these words, his voice cold as he responded, "You slander Kallian's name with such words. I will not tolerate such lies spoken in my presence".

Eamon sent a withering look Alistair's way and began to apologize, but the Grand Cleric cut him off with cold words, "I learned you were once trained in the Templar arts. No doubt you have heard the problems we have had with the younger and more naïve of their number. It seems that young and beautiful mages sometimes make use of their baser natures to seduce the initiates…the blood magic they employ making the conquest all the easier. I have no doubt that this _Kallian_ you speak so fondly of was remarkable in many ways: beautiful, charismatic, alluring. A poisonous flower no doubt".

Before Alistair could object, Elissa spoke in a low and menacing tone, "I would be careful, Your Reverence, when choosing the words you speak. The nobles of Orlais may delight in gossip and innuendo, but here in Ferelden we do not take kindly to being patronized nor do we let an insult go unpunished".

"Elissa!" Eamon chastised. "You must forgive her, Your Reverence. Many of the nobles have deep suspicions of Orlais stemming from the unfortunate occupation".

"I am here as a representative of the Chantry, not as a dog of Orlais. I care nothing for your disputes with other countries, and I would remind you that the Divine is a far more terrible enemy than the Empress. It is I who decide whether this nation has completed its penance for transgressions against our Maker, and it is I who decide whether He looks upon this nation's leaders favorably. I would be careful lest the wrath of the Maker fall upon you, furious and swift".

Elissa rolled her eyes but seeing the pleading look in Eamon's eyes, Alistair stated coldly, "I will take that under advisement".

"Very good, Your Majesty. Now that we understand each other, we can move to the topic of your marriage. I assume _she_ is your betrothed," she said in a singsong voice, confident in her victory and eyeing Elissa with distaste.

Alistair frowned at Eamon who met his gaze without looking away. "Perhaps we could save that discussion for a later date," Alistair added. "I am sure you are tired from the long journey to Denerim. It would be inhospitable to ask more from you at the moment".

"Alistair," Eamon began like a father lecturing his son. "This is too important to put off any further. We can speak in private later if you wish to, but for now…"

A strangled yell coming from the entranceway caused all present to turn to the thick, wooden doors. The thick oak splintered as the doors were thrown open, a deafening crash reverberating off the high ceiling of the great hall. Two guards lay against the walls of the corridor, their armor crumpled from the impact. Several others lay strewn around the passageway, some beginning to rise with dazed expressions while others obviously unconscious. A dark figure stood in the center of the entranceway flanked by an elven servant with wide eyes and a squeaky voice desperately pleading with the intruder.

The figure lacked an imposing build, barely rising above the height of the servant and with just as slight a form. Grey fabric fell from its midsection, the odd garment resembling a flowing gown. Cinched at the waist with a purple sash, strange symbols inlaid in a silvery material with jagged black highlights descended on the material as it fell to the ground. The figure's torso was covered with black and purple armor, the plating bearing the scars and dents from countless battles. Above the armor, the figure wore a vest of the same cloth as its gown splitting at the shoulders and tied together at the waist. A long silver weapon was tied to the sash, bobbing as the figure took several steps forward. Tubes emerged from below damaged shoulder pauldrons, rising to the top of the figures neck where they connected with a grim mask, gray with highlights of purple and sharp lines painted the color of blood. Its eyes were hidden behind opaque glass, the sightless gaze causing those who looked upon the figure to shiver in fear.

"Please ser…you are forbidden to enter without permission from the king. If you would please wait, I'm sure that I can find someone to resolve this misunderstanding," the elf said in a high-pitched tone, fear coloring her voice. Even as she lightly pulled on the intruder's arm, the masked figure made no move to stop her or brush her off.

If he were not so surprised and were the situation not so serious, Alistair might have laughed at the unintentional comedy of the scene with the frightened elf still managing to somehow stay professional even when confronted with such a menacing character.

Elissa's hand strayed to her sword as she nonchalantly stepped in front of the king while Eamon's eyes narrowed in recognition. Alistair simply stared, his voice taking on a dangerous tone as he said, "You…I knew you were behind all this".

"The dark figure chuckled at this, slowly approaching the tense group before observing in a synthesized voice, "Now that depends on what you mean. I am the cause of many things as you may recall".

"Name yourself, intruder! How dare you interrupt this meeting!" Elissa growled, her hand now firmly placed on the handle of her sword. The figure's head shifted toward her, its sightless gaze studying the woman but giving no answer in response.

Alistair placed an arm on Elissa's shoulder to calm her as he stood to face the intruder. "Her name is Revan. She traveled with us during the blight…for better or worse," Alistair explained, his eyes still fixed upon her impenetrable visor.

"You do not mean…the one they call a demon? That Revan?" Elissa whispered, eying the masked woman with a mixture of fear and distrust.

"The same unfortunately. I thought you had left us for good, Revan. Was all the whining about the unbearable time spent with primitives and fools just for show?" Alistair asked dryly.

"Believe me when I say that had I a choice, I would never have returned to this backwater world. Well…perhaps that is not quite true but certainly considering the present circumstances it is," she answered with a shrug.

"You look even smaller than I remember…or maybe it's just seeing you without that swirling cloak. Decide that a new look was in order because I must say, your fashion sense is still sorely lacking," he joked.

"And you are still playing the fool I see. Pity. I thought leadership might change you for the better, but alas, my high hopes are once again crushed," she added sarcastically, causing Elissa to stiffen in anger.

"I thought you left to go chase your enemy, that Sith or whatever. Get too lonely without us?" Alistair asked.

"It is no small wonder that I can still tolerate being in the presence of others after spending so much time in the company of the weak and foolish," Revan answered airily. "One of my many virtues, you understand".

"Yes, virtuous…that's you alright. Next we'll be hearing stories of you saving kittens from trees," he commented with a roll of his eyes.

Revan shrugged and looked carefully at her gauntleted hand in a nonchalant manner like a noblewoman checking her nails. Looking over the gathering before her, she fixed upon Eamon and one could almost see the smirk behind her beskar mask. "Now that we are catching up with each other, may I inquire into how your son is doing?" she asked innocently.

Eamon's face darkened as he looked upon her, dislike written in his features. "My son is studying magic under the tutelage of the Circle. I suppose I never thanked you for your role in his rescue," he said icily.

"Oh, there is no need to thank me. I live to serve!" she said enthusiastically. "Though I find it hard to imagine that you let your wife's sacrifice go to waste. Sending him to a prison is hardly what I expected after such a tragic loss".

"You have such a way with cruelty, Revan. It is a shame that well-meaning and honest mages like my son are locked away while the malicious and evil like yourself walk free," he observed coldly.

"Insults is it? It is not I who condemned my child to a life as a slave simply because he had more power than the rest of these weaklings. Tell me…who among us is truly cruel?" she asked sweetly.

"You tolerate the presence of this…this abomination!" the Grand Cleric interrupted, her voice full of horror and rage. Her eyes looked upon Revan as if she was looking upon something repulsive, her face twitching as she gave her a savage look. "This is the maleficar who killed the beloved servants of our Maker at the Circle Tower, the one said to have committed the ultimate blasphemy against His bride, yet you allow her to stand before you with impunity! Where are your guards? I demand you remove this blasphemous maleficar from my sight immediately!"

"I see…another ignorant slave of this pitiful religion. I hoped I would never again have the misfortune of hearing their shrill denunciations and idiotic pronouncements," Revan spat.

"Please, Your Reverence…saying anything more would not be a wise decision, believe me. You have no idea what this woman is capable of," Alistair advised, sending the old woman a serious look.

"Your fears are unfounded. I have little energy as it is to be wasting it murdering these insignificant peons. I am not so proud that I cannot tolerate an insect annoying me," Revan assured him with faux hurt in her voice.

"Somehow I doubt that. I've seen too many people strangled, electrocuted, or crushed to believe you," Alistair remarked as both the Chantry representative and Elissa looked at him in horror. "So back to what I was saying before…why are you here?"

"I was chasing my quarry. It did not end well," she said glibly.

"Define not well," he said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Well…I had my stomach cut open, my nose smashed, my ship destroyed, and my favorite cloak ruined! Do you know how long I wore that! It is irreplaceable!" she exclaimed in mock seriousness.

"You do look pretty beaten up. That gash in your armor…it looks like the steel is melted," he observed, looking at the blackened line in her cuirass.

"What, not going to ask me if I need medical attention? There _is _only a few bandages and ruined armor keeping my intestines from spilling out," Revan pointed out.

"Are you being sarcastic?" Alistair asked in shock, his face paling.

"When have I ever lacked seriousness?" she asked, one hand straying to her abdomen before she held it out, fingers stained crimson.

Elissa expected Alistair, one of the most compassionate men she had ever known, to immediately call for aid for his companion. She was mistaken as the king simply looked at the blood almost with disinterest before saying, "Even if I did call a healer, I doubt you would accept being tended to". She was surprised at the dislike coloring his words, his eyes looking at the masked woman like her very presence angered him.

"I thought my years-long absence would have softened your opinion of me…apparently not," she responded, a tad of annoyance in her voice.

"I could forgive the terrible things done at your urging during the blight, but I still could never trust you. What happened to Kallian then was your doing, and I won't forget it," he remarked coldly.

"Ah yes, my cute, little apprentice. I'm surprised you have not inquired into her whereabouts as of yet. Have a little falling out?" she said sweetly.

"So you do know where she is. Tell me! If you did anything to her…" Alistair yelled in a desperate tone.

Revan chuckled, her cruel laugh reminding Alistair of the darkest days of the blight. "I told her to wait for me, did I not? I told her that someday I would return to this world to finish what I started. Apparently, patience is not something she has in abundance," she remarked with a shrug.

"You mean…she left for your_ home_, but who did she leave with? And how? I don't know how, but I felt her once…she was in pain. Where is she now? Is she alright?" he asked without pausing for breath, fear and anticipation coloring every word.

"The Force creates a connection with those we care about…even if they do not wield it themselves. The dark side grows stronger every day, and as it takes hold, it obscures everything in a dense fog. In all honesty, I know not where she is or with whom she is. I have my suspicions, but all I can confirm is that she lives. Something sinister is beginning to move, a power that feeds on the Force itself. A power that bears the scars of Malachor," she spoke quietly, causing those present to shiver as if exposed to a draft.

"Alistair," Eamon warned, "I have told you countless times to not listen to these senseless ravings about this supposed _Force_ or whatever the false deity of their nation is called".

"The Divine will not tolerate this heresy," the Grand Cleric spat. "She has long suspected that schism has fermented among the ruling class of this backward nation, and now you have the audacity to openly speak of it? Your words offend our Maker and blaspheme all His great works. I will not take part in this profaning of our religion, to serve as a pious mask to hide your corruption".

Eamon attempted to placate her, but she refused to listen to reason. She turned to leave, pushing past Revan as she gave the masked woman a hateful look. She barely took another step before a loud crack echoed off the high ceiling of the throne room. She collapsed like a ragdoll, her head rolling at an impossible angle. Elissa and the elven servant gasped at the gruesome corpse, a squeal of terror escaping the elven girl's lips before she covered her mouth so as not to draw attention.

Alistair betrayed no surprise, and in fact, he actually suspected just such an outcome. "Not so proud, huh? I thought you 'lacked the energy' to do something like that," he said in a mocking parody of her own haughty tone.

"I am also one who lacks patience. I can only be pushed so far," she said scathingly before turning to the tearful elf. "And you…stop cowering like a helpless child. I swear it is my destiny to be surrounded by these annoyances".

"Caitlin, I believe that's your name, right? Could you please…well, leave for the moment? I understand if you are a little confused by this…or frightened out of your mind," he said under his breath, "but you shouldn't concern yourself with…all this".

"Oh…of…of course, Your Majesty. Right away. I'm sorry," she stuttered in a small voice before staggering out of the room, still paralyzed with fear.

"I suppose I should endeavor to repair the damage you just wrought. I doubt the Divine will believe that the poor woman simply happened upon a bout of misfortune, and it is even more unlikely that they will accept the rogue blood mage explanation," Eamon sighed as he shook his head in disgust, taking his leave from the gathering.

Elissa cast a wary glance at Revan, subtly moving closer to Alistair as the two continued to stare each other down. "You realize the difficulty you have created for us…though I do not mourn the loss of that insufferable hag".

"I do not care for the petty political struggles of this world. If my actions create enemies of this land, simply destroy them," she said simply.

"So, how long to you plan to grace us with your presence. Not that I am not delighted by your company…no, of course not," Alistair said wryly.

"My quarry destroyed my ship, so I am trapped here…for the moment. It seems like I am thwarted at every turn by the whims of the Force," Revan said sadly though a hidden smirk continued to play across her lips. "Oh and lest I forget, before leaving this world, the Sith Lord decided to make my life even more difficult, so you would be wise to expect another invasion of those Force forsaken abominations".

"What do you mean? He did something to the darkspawn?" he asked, fear creeping into his voice.

"Darkspawn, sithspawn, labels are unimportant. He manipulated the corruption of this world, ripping the edges of its wound so that darkness has begun to engulf it. I can sense the throbbing of the wound, the steady spread of death through the Force. Your friends underground should be learning of the change now and you soon after," she said with a shrug.

"Alistair…Ferelden has not yet recovered from the blight. If we must face another horde…I do not think we will be able to hold out," Elissa warned in a strained tone.

"If what she says is true, we may not have a choice. We will simply have to prepare as best we can and hope the Maker smiles upon us," Alistair said reassuringly.

"That is the least of your concerns now though," Revan added in a singsong tone. "_He_ is coming here. I know this because my master will surely make it so. He feeds off of those strong in the Force, and she may find it convenient to dispose of him by making a sacrifice of this dead world".

"Who are you talking about? This _Sith Emperor_?" Alistair asked in a hushed tone.

"No, a broken remnant of Malachor unable to live but cursed not to die. He will follow the trail of the Jedi to this world, and perhaps then you will meet with your beloved Kallian once again though I doubt she will be pleased at the wandering eye you seem to have developed in her absence," Revan explained sweetly as she cast a pointed look at Elissa.

Alistair stiffened at this, anger coloring his tone as he retorted, "Kindly stop invading other people's minds and misinterpreting what you find there".

Revan simply shrugged and said, "As you wish…though a novice could scarcely hope to avoid your thoughts, transparent as they are. But enough of this, I grow tired of this nonsense. I will be meditating and do not wish to be disturbed".

As Revan casually retreated into the palace interior, Elissa caught Alistair's eye and said, "That woman…does she intentionally act in that truculent manner or is that simply how she is?"

Alistair was silent for a moment before answering, "She's generally nasty and cruel, but under her wicked demeanor, she's kind of an enigma. I'm pretty sure she has a softer side to her though she hides it well. Kallian even said that she saw her cry once for what it's worth. But I wouldn't push my luck around her…she's dangerous".

"I am well aware of that," Elissa said dryly, looking at the twisted corpse on the ground. "I am happy for you…you know, that Kallian's alright".

"Revan's word can't be trusted," Alistair said quickly. "Even when she speaks the truth, it's the truth from a certain point of view, a warped and manipulative point of view. Thanks though, I appreciate it".

Elissa nodded, a small smile gracing her lips as she turned to leave. Alistair continued to stand in the center of the hall, brooding on Kallian, Revan, and the unknown enemy whose gaze would soon be turned toward the tainted world.

* * *

Kallian winced as she rubbed the small burn on her forearm, the product of lax attentiveness when dueling a training probe. Lux had taken it upon himself to teach her the basics of lightsaber combat, pitting her against a darting sphere that fired painful blasts of energy at her. Warding the strikes off was hard enough as it was, but the impatient exiled Jedi insisted that she train blindfolded, so she could learn to let the Force guide her movements. Needless to say, she has suffered numerous painful burns from the merciless drone before she learned to block most of its attacks. The situation was only made worse by the Handmaiden who chuckled under her breath every time the training drone caught her unawares.

The training reminded her of years long past, the hours spent fighting with Revan over her moronic training techniques. Learning how to perceive projectiles while blindfolded seemed a rather useless skill back in Ferelden, but out here in the void where blasters could fire bolts of pure energy faster than the eye could perceive, such skills seemed not only useful but essential.

Lux had also insisted on training her in the use of a single blade, his dubious opinion of dual wielding and the fancy acrobatics that went with it obvious. He favored the style of a fencer, waiting for openings in an enemy's defense before striking to end a fight in one blow. When she argued that Revan had used dual lightsabers, he dismissed her complaints brusquely, reasoning that a Jedi as powerful as Revan had mastered every style and could indulge in such theatrics. A Jedi, he said, focused primarily on defense and hesitated to employ their skills to attack. A single blade emphasized the Jedi role as a defender and a guardian, a bulwark against those who would assault the people the Jedi protected.

Wandering the ship, Kallian finally came to the cockpit, bright clouds rolling past the transparisteel of the ship's canopy as the Ebon Hawk traveled through a shifting tunnel of light. Although she had seen hyperspace before, she still could not help the sense of wonder and amazement overcoming her as she looked out at the ever-shifting tunnel carving a pathway through space.

She saw the human pilot there, Atton she believed he was called, checking readouts and fiddling with the many instruments on the ship's console. Kallian slid into the copilot's seat, her eyes still wide with wonder as the clouds of light rushed past the cockpit. Atton practically jumped out of his chair as she sat down, not expecting any company through the long journey to Nar Shaddaa.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" she said without preamble, not looking at the surprised pilot. "I grew up in a dirt hole with walls so high it was dark before sundown. I never imagined I would one day travel between the stars".

Atton eyes her warily before responding, "I guess if you've been planetside your whole life, it might be something to see. I've been navigating ships through hyperspace since I was a kid though, so the novelty kind of wore off a while ago".

Kallian scoffed at him, rolling her eyes at the ignorant human, "I've never taken anything for granted in my life. You were so lucky to be born out here, but you act like it's nothing".

"Listen sister, the galaxy's ain't all it's cracked up to be. You're about to get one hell of a reality check with where we're going," he said with a smirk.

"And where would that be?" she asked.

"Nar Shaddaa, now there's a festering hole," he added with a grimace. "Though it'll be good to finally get a chance to sit back and down some good Corellian ale. The opportunities to get drunk on this pleasure cruise have been few and far between".

"I think Revan mentioned that place once. She didn't seem to have a high opinion of it," Kallian observed, thinking back to Revan's words upon entering Denerim.

"Who would? Crime, slavery, poverty, that place has the works. It's like Coruscant's ugly twin, not counting the undercity," Atton said with disgust. "It's a moon that orbits the Hutts' homeworld. Before you ask, they're bloated, putrid slugs with personalities to match. Watch your step when we get there, those pus-bags are always looking for cute things like you to play with".

Kallian could not help a look of revulsion from coming over her face at the thought, but she quickly composed herself to her usual calm. "I can look after myself…and you can keep the compliments to yourself," she said pointedly.

"I just call them like I see them, sister," he joked, a wide grin forming on his lips. "You know, it must be tough being a Jedi, no family, no husband…"

"And what, you think you can fill that lonely void?" she asked sweetly.

"Your words, sister, not mine," he laughed.

"Cute," she quipped as a look of annoyance passed over her face. "Anyway, I'm not a Jedi. I've never been to any fancy temple or trained with a bunch of robed, bearded wise men. I'm just street trash from the slums of Denerim who happened to be born with the Force. I have a family too, my cousins, Alistair…and my son".

"You have a kid? You're practically a kid yourself!" he exclaimed.

She shot him a glare before saying acidly, "Thanks a lot. Seeing how I only got a few years left before I die, I figured I shouldn't be putting things off".

"What do you mean only a couple of years? Your species short lived or something?" he asked with a mixture of feigned disinterest unable to hide the concern underlying it.

"I was exaggerating…no need to get yourself all fired up," Kallian responded with a dismissive wave of her hand. "I have a…sickness, you see. The Force keeps it at bay mostly, but I don't know how long that will sodding last. But for now it's just a pain in the ass".

"Sorry…didn't mean to put you on the spot like that," Atton said awkwardly with a halfhearted smirk. "What about your kid?"

"He's dead," she said brusquely, turning her head away.

"Oh…well…I feel like a complete bastard now," he said as Kallian stubbornly continued to look away, the wry smile vanishing from his face.

"Don't worry about it. You just asked a question; it's not like you can read minds," she spoke with a tinge of anger. "I knew at the time it was foolish to even try being sick and all, but I thought the Force would make it alright. I was stupid and arrogant. I didn't learn my lesson before, and it wasn't just me who suffered the second time".

There was silence between them for several long seconds after her bitter words. She continued to brood, her eyes filled with fury, as Atton struggled to find something to say to her. "You know, I've always though of myself of having a deft hand with the ladies, but after this, I might have to reevaluate that opinion. Real smooth, Atton," he joked.

"Hey, it's better than talking to that bitchy Echani," she observed, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

"I heard you two going at it. The Hawk might not survive the rematch," he deadpanned. "It seems like the Exile's assembling quite the collection of misfits for this crusade. Maybe I can convince him to space that old hag…won't be much of a loss".

"I don't think Lux would agree to that. He's more the type to ask you about your feelings or make everyone stand in a circle and hold hands, maybe sing a song. You know the type," she said with a laugh.

"Well I can always dream," he said wistfully as the console suddenly erupted in a cacophony of light and noise. "Looks like we're coming up on Nar Shaddaa. Damn this baby's fast…wonder where Revan picked her up".

"Knowing her, it probably ended with a few poor bastards getting killed," she guessed, a rather violent scenario playing out in her mind.

"Yeah well, that's what the Sith and Jedi do, take what they want and chaos take the rest of us".

The scathing tone surprised Kallian, the distaste he felt for both the Sith and Jedi so powerful that she could feel his anger where usually there was only a sense of absence. "Have a problem with Force-users, I see," she remarked.

"No, just with the two groups of them. I think most people would have a problem with sanctimonious hypocrites. They get in your mind and twist you, they're all the kriffing same," he seethed before staring at her intently, the look in his eyes making her distinctly uncomfortable. "The Exile's training you now, right? Don't trust him. You haven't been ruined by the Jedi yet, so don't let yourself be".

Kallian studied him, trying to get a sense of his feelings. It was strange the way he felt, like he was a blank spot in the Force. She wondered about his strange presence and what was hidden behind those haunted eyes. "I t sounds like you have some history with the Jedi, want to talk about it?"

"What are you, my shrink or something? I fought in the wars. Let's just say I saw some eye opening stuff there and leave it at that. I'm not so needy that I need to spill my guts to a girl I've barely met," he said evasively.

Kallian rolled her eyes, knowing that it would all come out in some agonizing confession eventually. "Whatever. I guess we all got secrets that we don't want everyone to know about. But you don't have to worry about me though. I've been stabbed with a lightsaber enough times to know that most Force users are a lot of crazy sods. I can take care of myself".

Atton laughed, "Who said I was worried about you?"

The stars streaked back into view as the ship exited hyperspace. Kallian paled as she felt like she had left her stomach a few light years back before the inertial dampers kicked in. Trying not to make a mess in the cockpit, she closed her eyes for a few moments, steadying her breathing before looking out at the vastness of space. She saw two worlds, one a putrid green and sulfurous yellow, the other a slate gray covered with a grid of light. As they approached, she saw countless specks of light, glittering like jewels, darting toward and away from the moon, the ships of the various traders and seedier types who frequented the hub of galactic commerce. As the world grew closer, Atton turned to her with a smirk saying, "Welcome to the ass end of the galaxy, the smuggler's moon".

* * *

Kallian felt a distinct sense of vertigo as they entered the plaza, a vast pit descending for eternity lying before them. She took an involuntary step back from the chasm in the platform, wondering how all these people traversed these narrow walkways when nothing kept passersby from falling into the abyss. They had left the Ebon Hawk on a landing pad precariously attached to one of the soaring towers covering this world, the platform overlooking a web of light stretching to the horizon, interrupted by massive peaks of blackened steel with smaller buildings and domes occasionally breaking the pattern.

Above her, looming spires of black and gray reached for the stars, small craft maneuvering between them like birds flying through groves of trees. Below her, the towers descended into blackness, the light from their windows becoming an indistinct glow as the twinkling lights became lost in the bright grid covering the moon's surface. She wondered how long it had taken to construct these mountains of steel and glass, picturing hundreds of workers swarming over the unfinished structures like insects, slowly building a city that encompassed the entire world. And to think that she once found the fortress of Ostagar intimidating. The ancient Tevinters could not even imagine engineering on this scale.

Crowds of strange beings traversed the walkways crisscrossing the artificial valleys between the spires, the variance of color and shape breaking the monotony of steel gray. The beings jabbered in countless languages, the noise becoming an uninterrupted drone as words became lost in the din. She saw many humans, but she also saw lizards, a species that resembled the qunari with their curling horns, and even stranger creatures that lacked eyes, identifiable mouths, or even a normal number of limbs. She saw a few of them look at her and whisper covertly to their fellows, the feeling she got from them increasing the sense of danger stirring in her mind.

Walking away from the landing platform, Kallian grimaced as she stepped in something slimy and disgusting, the garbage strewn about the street mixing with all manner of filth and substances she would rather remain ignorant about. Graffiti was scrawled on the dirty walls in languages she could not understand, but from her prior experience in Denerim, she could guess that the jagged symbols and scrawled messages were most likely the product of gangs marking their territory. Beggars sat below the graffiti, their faces all written with the same quiet desperation and their bodies hunched in defeat. Some pleaded with strangers for spare coin, but most simply tried their best to remain small and unnoticed. Most of those solicited by the beggars simply sneered and continued on their way, but others laughed as they landed a few punishing kicks on the poor bastards, stomping them into the grimy floor. "_This world_," she thought, "_it's worse than the alienage_".

"Nice place, huh?" Atton observed with a grin as he landed a playful punch on her shoulder. "Just wait till we get to the red light district, then we'll really get a show".

"Sounds like my kind of place," Zevran said with a smirk as the Handmaiden frowned at him.

"Are all men this disgusting?" she asked no one in particular.

"Surely you jest, my dear!" Zevran exclaimed in a voice filled with false hurt. "I am confident you would not mind a chance to indulge in the more sensual pleasures, hmm?"

"No I would not. We are here to search for the last of the Jedi, not satisfy your lascivious desires," she spat.

"Interjection: It is not necessary to argue about our destination. We have sufficient numbers to conduct a general search of the relevant area even with your inferior information gathering abilities," HK stated in an annoyed fashion. "Advisory: Our arrival will have been observed by numerous meatbags, which presupposes a strong probability that information concerning our presence will be readily available. With luck, our quarry will come to us".

"Well, if you do meet anyone who looks like they might know something, don't kill them until we can get some information," Kallian warned.

"Clarification: Interrogation is one of my primary functions, meatbag! An essential aspect of my assassination protocols!" the droid stated disapprovingly.

"Just checking," she answered with a sigh.

"I'd rather we keep the killing to a minimum," Lux spoke dryly. "I'd like to keep our presence here as hidden as possible, so don't go drawing attention to yourselves".

"Query: Is terminating the occasional meatbag deemed as drawing attention? I would define such measures as silencing potential informants," HK asked in all seriousness as Lux shook his head.

"We should probably split up to cover more ground. Try to keep risks at a minimum though…this _is_ Nar Shaddaa. You two with me," he said, pointing to the Handmaiden and Kallian. "We can discuss your training as we go. Bao-Dur, see if you can find anything out about those droids that have been tracking us. The first one intended to bring us here. Take HK with you too, it might make getting information a little easier. Atton and Zevran, check the cantinas and see what you can find out. On a world like this, someone's got to know something about a missing Jedi".

As they separated, Kreia approached Lux, her voice heavy with displeasure as she intoned, "Before you embark on this fool's errand, there is a matter of which I must speak with you…along with the girl".

"Could you be any more cryptic," the Exile asked.

"How can you ever hope to gain wisdom if all the answers are laid before you? Listen to me first, and perhaps what was once indistinct will be made clear," she responded even as he felt a glimmer of impatience through the Force.

"Or maybe it never will," he said as he gestured to Kallian.

"That, of course, is your part in this. Should you remain in the dark, it will be because you failed to seek out the light. Now enough of this, let us begin," she spoke, her voice revealing nothing.

Kallian shot the old woman a disdainful look before following after, glancing one last time at the glittering towers as they rose to the night sky.

* * *

A hunter watched the eclectic group through the scope of a disruptor rifle, perched at a window of a rundown apartment high above. The wind whipped around her as she zoomed in, studying the Jedi and his companions. Her employer had given information on only this one, a brown-haired man in nondescript clothing, looking like any other visitor to this hole of a world. The barely visible bulges under his tunic told another story, the presence of armor easy to identify for a trained eye like hers. He did not have a lightsaber as far as she could determine, but on this world where every scumbag and scoundrel was looking for a quick credit, wearing it out in the open would be like painting a giant target on your back. His face was lined and weather-beaten but not bad looking, a scraggily beard making him look older than he probably was.

Beside him was an alien, smaller and slimmer than a standard human, with pointed ears emerging from long red hair. She was not as discrete as her companion, billowing robes enveloping her making her status as a Jedi obvious even to the most oblivious person. A prosthetic arm emerged from one cutoff sleeve, the clawed fingers never straying far from the array of weapons hanging off her belt. She seemed displeased about something, the grimace on her pretty face making that obvious enough. It was to be expected though, a Jedi used to the gilded halls of the temple and the majestic upper levels of Coruscant would probably find Nar Shaddaa less than accommodating. Her employer had not known about this one, but her contacts within the Exchange were generally reliable.

She grinned, knowing how easy it would be for her to pull the trigger and end the lives of these two Jedi. She wondered for a moment how her people had ever lost to them given their obliviousness to the danger around them. She was not out for revenge though, like any other Mandalorian, even one who had started out a clanless slave, she respected worthy enemies, and honor demanded that she accept defeat inflicted by a superior foe. Even if the Jedi had fallen, scattered throughout the galaxy like ashes in the wind, the legacy of Revan and her brilliant leadership still resonated among the Mandalorian survivors. But that was not the sole reason, however, as she would not kill, no matter how honorless the quarry, because a true hunter was skilled enough to not resort to such brutal methods.

She took her eye off the scope, looking back to her unconscious guest, the owner of both the room and rifle she now held in her hands. The Weequay was like any other of the countless thugs who populated this forsaken world, but he had made the unfortunate, and frankly moronic, decision to cut the Hutts out of the profits of a smuggling operation to the Corporate Sector. Definitely not the smartest move. The Hutts tended not to forget betrayal, and the exotic beasts they kept below their disgusting palaces were always hungry. The Weequay stirred in his fitful dreams, so she casually loaded another dart into her forearm gauntlet and fired, quieting him for the moment.

Taking one last look at the two Jedi, she disassembled the rifle with the precision only the child of a people dedicated to war would possess, pocketing the rather expensive scope before tossing the remaining parts into the empty expanse. As they disappeared into the open air, she scoffed in disdain. She had no use for such a weapon, one designed for toughs who were too clumsy and stupid to use a weapon able to kill without making it easy. She was sure the scavengers constantly rooting through the piles of trash on the lower levels would find a use for the parts and smiled at the thought that this could be a charitable contribution of sorts.

Hefting the unconscious smuggler, she left the abandoned apartment, keen to meet with these Jedi as soon as possible.

* * *

"Stretch out with your feelings," Kreia urged. "Sweep away the metal and machinery, the dead things that cover this world, and truly feel the life around you. Listen and you will hear the small echoes each life makes in the Force. The interactions of each being, the decisions they make that affect others, these echoes spread like ripples in water, ever changing the flow of the Force".

Kallian closed her eyes and tried to expand her presence in the Force, but all she heard was the overbearing drone of a thousand voices mixed with the screeching of ships soaring overhead. "This is pointless, how does it teach us anything," she snarled, giving up on the exercise.

Kallian shivered as Kreia turned to her, feeling like her sightless eyes were looking through her. "Revan taught you, did she not, that all things live through the Force? Their desperation, their agony, the small hopes so easily crushed: you can sense them all if you open your mind. There is great power in perceiving this connection…in breaking this connection".

"It sounds like you are asking us to manipulate them. Even if controlling the flow of the Force on such a massive scale were possible, I would never chain someone to my will like that. I hope that's not what you are asking of us," Lux spoke with revulsion.

"Ask you to manipulate those inferior to you?" Kreia asked with a laugh so high and cold that Kallian shivered uncontrollably. "There is no need for me to _force _you to do this. Tell me, when you affect the mind of a guard to ignore you or dominate the thoughts of a common urchin for information, what are you doing?"

"But that's…that's just a trick. All Jedi use mind tricks…" Lux sputtered, realizing the trap he had unwittingly walked into.

"Do they? And I suppose it is acceptable to do so since the righteous masters give their approval," she lectured, haughty in her victory. "But your words carry more wisdom than even you realize. Manipulation is power. The ability to bend others to your will is mightier than any physical power, but it holds an inherent weakness. Though you may control, you do not lead. The slaves you bind to yourself will fight for you, die for you perhaps, but they will never believe in your cause. There is always the possibility of betrayal. The power to bring others to your side, however, to make their goals yours, to command their devotion…that is an awesome power indeed".

"A power you certainly don't wield," Kallian muttered under her breath.

Kreia turned to her, but to Kallian's surprise she actually seemed to approve as she said, "Perhaps you are more perceptive than you let on. It is true that I lack this ability, a presence that Revan exuded. Perhaps it is my role to guide those who do rather than stand at the forefront. And perhaps it is your role to listen to my guidance as opposed to acting like a petulant child".

Kallian glared but nodded, closing her eyes once again and straining to reach out with her power. Then she felt it, like a faint murmur underlying the tremendous clamor rising from the artificial surface of Nar Shaddaa. It felt like billions of voices has suddenly become one, thoughts and feelings blurring into one singular sound. She could know their minds, touch their thoughts, and she perceived the moon not as dead rock covered by soulless machines but a web of light, a patchwork of life made up by countless beings.

But then she felt the wrongness lurking at the edge of the web, fraying its edges as the corruption slowly spread, destroying all life in its wake. She felt her power slipping away, the Force within her being drawn away into something terrible. She searched for the source, the corruption drawing her toward a festering wound, to Lux. Her mind exploded with the screams of the dying, their pain and horror washing over her as the Force shuddered from the agony. She felt like she was losing herself, her mind and body being drawn in by the inescapable grasp of death, and her silent scream joined the cries of those lost at Malachor.

Kallian opened her eyes quickly, the concern face of Lux hovering over her. She flinched back in revulsion, but why she did not know. She could not remember exactly what she had been doing before, but as she struggled to recall the events she felt stabs of pain shooting through her body and memories of ghostly ships drifting over a dead world. "Kallian, are you alright? What's wrong with you?" Lux questioned, concern layering his voice as he placed his hands on her shoulders.

"I…I don't know. I saw something…something terrible, but it's gone now," she said shakily, rising to her feet with some difficulty.

Lux turned to Kreia looking for some explanation but the old woman seemed unconcerned. "She only realized the truth…the true nature of the Force. It is not something most Force users could experience and then accept. Perhaps in time she will".

"I don't understand," Lux said in confusion as he supported a wobbly Kallian.

"You have no need to understand," Kreia spoke silkily, "You are the answer to all of this, an answer I have sought since the day Revan refused to bow to the fools on the Council. Your role in this will soon become clear".

She left it at that, leaving both Kallian and Lux to guess at the meaning of her words.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry it has taken so long to update. I've had this chapter written for a while, but it took forever to type it up after it was finished. Should have more action in the next chapter since this chapter and most of the last one mainly consisted of exposition. Thanks to all readers and to MrEmperor and Bugsquirt for the reviews. I am glad you like the characterizations, Bugsquirt, and to your comment about Morrigan, I thought the characters of Revan and Morrigan were too similar, so I downplayed the latter quite a bit. I liked her character in Dragon Age, so I tried in her final appearance to show that she actually cared about her companions and was not completely evil or needlessly cruel.**


	7. Unto One of the Least of These

It was raining on Nar Shaddaa, the large, filmy drops splattering on the grated floors, corroding the metal and forming standing pools of fetid water. Kallian looked up, shielding her eyes from the stinking rain, but no dark clouds greeted her gaze, only a ceiling covered with leaking pipes and ductwork. Despite her best efforts, several drops landed in her mouth, causing her to hack and gag as she spit the vile liquid out. This whole world disgusted her, as even the weather was a product of unnatural machinery.

Her clothing was soaked with grimy liquid, her robes weighed down by the noxious water. If she had to be uncomfortable, at least the Echani was equally so with her previously pure white clothing now stained a filthy brown and her face set in a permanent grimace. Lux seemed unconcerned, his presence exuding calm and serenity, even as he swept wet tangles of hair out of his eyes. Her displeasure only grew when she looked at his calm visage, the uselessness of this side trip driving her mad. It had only taken a few rumors of a bunch of sodding refugees being mistreated for Lux to slide into the role of knight in shining armor. So here they were, drenched and miserable, looking for some minor crime boss who would be replaced within a matter of hours after they dealt with him. So much for keeping a low profile. She guessed these Jedi just could not resist playing the hero.

"No one should have to live like this," Lux said, his voice filled with bitterness.

Kallian rolled her eyes at the comment, her gaze sweeping over the pathetic collection of refugees before her. The lucky ones lived in storage crates, the metal ceilings at least keeping the interior dry. Others lived under makeshift lean-tos constructed out of ripped blankets and clothes. Water leaked through the inadequate shelter, leaving those who huddled under their confines wet and cold, their wide, staring eyes following the trio as they walked past. The majority of these people simply slept without shelter, ragged blankets and scrap metal covering their shivering forms. A few corpses littered the area, their decomposing flesh a feast for insects, rodents, and whatever other vermin infested this Maker forsaken place.

The alienage had never been as bad as this. At least the people living there would not hesitate to provide shelter for a stray, and few ever remained on the street permanently. "Well they do. A nice, warm house with plenty of food on the table is the exception…this is generally the rule," she spat.

"That doesn't make it right. They are living like this because no one has offered a helping hand. If someone would just try to help them…" he argued passionately.

"Even if you do help them, it's only going to be a temporary respite. I may not know a lot about how things work out here, but it seems to be a lot like back home. Unless you get rid of the sodding bastards running this whole world, nothings going to change, and even if you do, a wish and a prayer isn't going to make it last," she snapped back.

"So you would just leave them to their fate?" he asked accusingly.

"No…but neither would I expect that I can right every damn wrong in this place. It's in most people's natures to be bastards, and only some naïve fool would think any different," Kallian shot back defensively. "I grew up in a shithole like this where well-meaning idiots like you would show up every once in awhile to make our lives a little easier. Guess what, they never changed a damn thing. The alienage was just as bad when they left than when they arrived. It took a lot more than good intentions to change things".

"Don't you think that even if we only help one person, even if its only temporary, that going out of our way would be worth it?" he asked.

"If people can't help themselves, then we won't be able to do a sodding thing about it. That's the truth," Kallian responded, confident in her words.

"I would have thought that since you grew up in a similar environment, you might care more about the plight of these people, but it seems you really cannot help being selfish," the Handmaiden interjected, a scowl on her face as she tried to scrape some filth from her boot.

"Sorry I wasn't born in some sheltered place like you were with all my needs taken care of. It's easy to talk big when you don't know what you're talking about," Kallian growled, shooting her a dark look.

"You know nothing about me! I did not grow up sheltered! I trained hard to serve as a protector of the last of the Jedi. I did not just laze about like some pampered, spoiled princess!" the Handmaiden objected, her mouth curled into an angry snarl.

"And you don't know anything about me, but I _know _your type. Do you think I didn't notice all those looks of disgust at the state of your clothes and the quick glances toward the exit out of here? You're not so subtle as you think!" the fiery-haired woman spat.

The Handmaiden sneered at this, laughter barely kept in as she said, "And I suppose all those sighs and looks of disapproval were your way of showing how much you loved this place. I think you've made it perfectly clear that you do not want to be here".

Kallian opened her mouth to retort when Lux came between them, an exasperated look on his face. "Ladies please. Do I have to separate you? We're starting to develop quite the audience if you hadn't noticed," he pointed out.

Both women looked around at the gathering crowd, some of the assembled refugees snickering at the two while others who looked far more shady seemed disappointed that the argument had not devolved to an all out fight. Kallian blushed furiously at the attention. She had not realized how loud she was yelling at the other woman, her anger blinding her to what was going on around her. "Well have it your way. You two sodding idiots can go and do whatever you want. Maybe I can find this bastard on my own, so at least we can get out of here faster," she growled, stalking off.

"Kallian, I think it would be safer if we stayed together. You still don't know your way around the galaxy that well, and this certainly isn't the place to start learning," Lux cautioned, grabbing her by the arm.

She shook him off with a scowl, continuing on her way as she yelled back, "At least I know not to go looking for trouble...something you still haven't learned apparently".

She left the pair behind her, journeying deeper into the rows of makeshift shelters, some of the seedier types eying her with interest as she walked past. Lux forced her to wear a nondescript cloak soon after they left the landing platform, quickly noticing the stares her robes attracted, but these types probably were not interested in her for that purpose. She walked quickly, her Force sense constantly searching for danger, her hand never straying far from the cold metal of her lightsaber. The desperation these people shared almost overwhelmed her senses, so she had to focus to block out the swirling emotions that battered her like harsh winds. She knew that her words had been cruel when she spoke to Lux, and it was not like she lacked pity for these wretches, but sometimes the Jedi acted like just wishing for it could solve every problem in the galaxy.

She did not understand him; he acted like such a sheltered fool. Revan seemed to have had a far better grasp of what the world was like, cruel and unforgiving, when she was not contributing to the problem through her frequent homicidal episodes. Revan expressed nothing but contempt for any attempt to help others with their minor problems if they refused to make any effort themselves, saying it only weakened them and left them helpless in the face of harder times. She had possessed an equal hatred of the Jedi, and the way she had described them, their casual decision to enslave her, to wipe away everything that made her the person she was, Kallian had been quite wary of them herself. Lux seemed completely different from Revan's words, however, his childishly naïve outlook completely shattering her preconceptions.

She had talked to the horned alien briefly, Bao-Dur he said his name was, and although he was hesitant to tell her everything he knew about the Exile, she had got enough out of him that the stories seemed inconsistent with her own impression. He had once been a general, second only to Malak in the fleet that had crushed the Mandalorians. Bao-Dur spoke of his brilliance in leading the Jedi rebels to victory, his words filled with awe over the ferocity he showed in battle, but he always seemed to be holding something back. She could not imagine that one of Revan's trusted lieutenants could be so weak and ignorant about the true nature of the galaxy. She had never seen him fight, she supposed, but the way he acted, a mouse would probably be tougher in combat. She wondered what secrets lay behind those sorrowful eyes and what horrors Malachor had left him struggling with that a man once so feared could be reduced to...this.

Hearing a commotion, she left her thoughts behind, beholding several aliens surrounding a human girl cowering near one of the massive storage crates. She was speaking a strange language, fear obvious in her tone though she could not understand the words. She was dressed in rags, dirt smudged on her face, and she looked barely older than her mid teens. The aliens surrounding her were of different races, several of a reptilian variety with saliva dripping from fanged mouths and hunger apparent in their eyes with pupils like slits. Others looked like bugs, blue skin covered with spiky hairs and large black eyes, two antennas completing the revolting look. The ugliest of them looked more like a human, but his bulbous head bore two long tentacles wrapped around his neck. His eyes were small and rat like while his lecherous smile revealed a mouth of sharp teeth. One of the lizards grabbed the girl's arm as she tried to struggle, its claws cutting bloody gashes in her flesh. Kallian looked around, but no one seemed to respond to the girl's screams. The cowards kept their heads down, hiding their eyes and pretending like they could not hear the desperate cries for help.

As she approached, she heard the repulsive alien speak in Basic, "Careful with her now. You know Vogga doesn't like his prizes spoiled. Try not to leave any marks".

Her blood chilled at this, a cold fury rising within her as she looked upon the laughing aliens. She was reminded of that terrible day in the alienage, when bastards just like this thought they could take advantage of those weaker than them. No one had done anything for her, Shianni, and the others at that time either. They had just kept their heads down, perfectly comfortable with their friends and neighbors being brutalized and violated as long as it was not them. She hated these craven weaklings who hid their faces and tried not to draw attention when one of their own was in danger. The hate flowed through her, her eyes flashing a sulfurous yellow as she took several deliberate steps toward the gathering.

One of the lizards noticed her first, its cruel eyes falling on the cloaked figure approaching them with no fear. It hissed at her, alerting its fellows to her presence even as they dragged the girl by her matted hair. "Well, aren't you a pretty, little thing," their leader spoke, his accented Basic filled with perverted glee. "Guess we're lucky, huh boys? Thought we weren't going to find anything worth looking at in all this Taris trash. Maybe we can have our own fun while Vogga's busy".

She eyed the disgusting alien, in her gaze a promise of death. He must have seen something in her icy eyes as he shivered involuntarily, his face bearing a confused look as he tried to determine the source of the fear that gripped his body. He motioned for one of the lizards, a hulking monster with a gaping maw filled with fangs and a ridged head adorned with brown scales, to grab her, the beast pulling a short club that crackled with electricity. He reached out for her, its movement stopping as it let out a strangled gasp. Kallian had already moved past, her eyes fixed upon the comically open mouths of these ridiculous thugs. Vermin like them needed to be exterminated.

The top half of the alien fell to the ground, his legs still rooted on the ground like the rest of its body was still attached. She could feel its confusion and pain, the cauterized wound from her lightsaber assuring that it would have a long time to suffer before death. The scent of burnt flesh wafted in the air as the steady hum of her lightsaber was the only sound breaking a deafening silence. All eyes in the area were suddenly upon her, surprise written on the faces of the refugees and fear on the faces of the aliens before her. She smiled at the reaction, the smile of a cat with a mouse under her paw, the smile of a predator ready to strike.

She failed to make a move, content to let the fools babble in their incomprehensible tongue, terror and anger shifting the tenor of the Force. She threw aside her cloak, releasing a mane of flaming-red hair to match the fiery blade of her lightsaber, the energy weapon held away from her at an angle pointing to the ground, a ready stance Lux had insisted she adopt for the moment. Makashi he called it, an adept form for dueling other Force-users. She guessed it probably was not needed against these Force-blind weaklings, and its lack of effectiveness against blasters was a concern, but she figured that the practice would be useful. She blew a few tangled strands of hair away from her face as she waited for the inevitable attack, her anticipation increasing with each second.

One of the bug eyed aliens blinked first, pulling a blaster pistol and firing off two quick shots. She spun her saber in an arc, deflecting both bolts of energy into the ground. She darted forward with her body low to the ground, her weapon held backward as the panicking thug began firing wildly, terror throwing off its aim. It was both exhilarating and terrifying at the same time, running through this firestorm. One energy blast could end her life, but she continued hurtling forward, relying on the Force to direct the path of her blade, eyes fixed on her cowering target. She sliced off his hand, tiny tongues of flame licking her blade as the cloth of his jacket burned. Burying the orange blade into his gut, she grabbed his slimy neck with her artificial hand, pushing the choking alien forward as a shield.

The bug's friends apparently cared little for the alien's safety as they opened fire without hesitating, blaster bolts leaving the blue skinned creature's back a blackened ruin. She pushed the corpse away with the Force, knocking down several of its cohorts as the body slammed into them. She flicked her saber at another of the lizard aliens, leaving a blackened line in its throat. Tossing the blade to her metallic claw, she unleashed a barrage of lightning at the remaining lizard standing next to him, the fool too busy watching its friend try to draw breath through a severed windpipe. Kallian smirked as the smell of ozone reached her nose. It had indeed been far too long.

Not giving the smoking corpse another thought, she looked to the remaining vermin just getting to their feet after throwing off the mutilated corpse of their partner. One pulled a larger weapon, like nothing she had ever seen before. She quickly brought her saber to bear, the bronze blade held across her body, but a sense of danger in the Force quickly took hold of her. She gathered the very essence of the Force around her, forming a shield to both protect her and the dazed girl at her side. It was not a moment too soon as the alien's weapon roared, releasing a barrage of burning metal. Most of the shrapnel bounced off her shield but several molten shards penetrated through, burning through her clothes and leaving a cauterized line in her cheek. The pain was intense, even from such a glancing wound, and Kallian knew she could not let the thug fire its monstrous weapon again.

As the leather-faced alien pumped his weapon for another shot, aiming the superheated barrel at her with malicious grin, the enraged elf grabbed hold of the barrel with the Force, wrenching the weapon to the ground just as it fired once again. Shards of metal bounced off the grated floor, flying every which way including into the unfortunate owner of the weapon. He fell with a hundred blackened holes in his body, flames beginning to consume his clothing even before his body hit the ground. He took a few of his fellows with him while others writhed on the ground, suffering from numerous burning wounds.

She advanced, finishing off the fallen aliens with a few quick flicks of her saber, the leader of this gang the only one left standing. His eyes were wide with fear, beads of sweat running down his pale face, his mouth once adorned with a wicked smirk now quivering with terror. He could barely raise his blaster his hand was shaking so badly, but Kallian gave him no chance to get a shot off as she wrenched the pistol from his grip, crushing the weapon like crumpled paper. He turned to run, a pathetic squeal escaping his lips as he fled. He did not get far before a blade of fire punched through his chest, a gasp barely leaving his mouth before his lungs burned into cinders. A dark figure stood behind him, golden eyes filled with hate as she extended one hand to return the blade to her grip.

She watched the fool's body collapse to the ground, the cold hilt of her lightsaber held tightly in her hand. For the first time she listened to the sounds around her, hearing only the steady hum of her blade and the ragged breaths emerging from her mouth as her chest heaved. She felt sick, the battle high beginning to wear off, and a wave of nausea coming over her. She had not fought like that since the battle with the Sith Lord and had not killed since her meeting with HK. She was going soft, there was no other explanation for the way she felt.

Hearing a slight noise from behind her, she turned to the source, seeing the girl she rescued looking at her in wonder. The expression she wore seemed so strange to Kallian, a mixture of gratitude, relief, awe, and happiness directed toward her. She was so used to the condescending looks, the disgust apparent in the shems' faces as they were forced to stand in the presence of a lowly elves. She was not prepared for this, a feeling of genuine appreciation and respect directed at her. Probing deeper, she felt an almost religious reverence the girl apparently had for her, no, not for her, but rather for the idea she represented, the Order she represented, the Jedi.

"Thank you...thank you so much," she stuttered, her voice quivering with excitement and the last vestiges of fear. "Master Jedi, if you had not come...those men...I don't know what they would have done to me".

"_Huh, Master...that's a new one_," thought Kallian with more than a little self-satisfaction. "I wasn't just going to let those vermin do what they wanted," she said dismissively.

"I know...my mother used to tell stories of the Jedi. She said that one day they would come to Nar Shaddaa and save us all. Is that why you are here?" she spoke rapidly, her desire to believe the truth of her words overwhelming.

When Kallian looked into those pleading eyes, the eyes of someone whose whole life had been nothing but suffering and shattered dreams, she could not be cruel. But sometimes being cruel was telling someone without hope what they wanted to hear. She opened her mouth to respond, resigned to telling the girl the truth...gently, but a harsh voice quickly drowned out her words.

"The Jedi come to help us?" the voice said in disbelief. "There's a better chance of the Sith or the Mandalorians saving us. The Jedi couldn't care less about us. They only care about the Core...about covering their own asses".

Kallian flashed a dangerous look at the source of the diatribe, a human man sitting huddled alongside others just like him, most shaking their heads in agreement with some fixing her with poisonous glares. Surprisingly, the girl came to her defense, "She saved me! The Jedi are guardians of peace throughout the galaxy. Wherever there's injustice or persecution...they'll be there!"

"Girl, there ain't enough Jedi left in the galaxy to clean up one district on this kriffing dump of a world let alone protect the whole galaxy. A lot of good all that justice did them when the Sith were slaughtering them all! She's probably here to hide just like the rest of them!" he said scathingly.

"You're wrong! The Jedi won't lose so easily! They defeated the Mandalorians and the Sith after them!" she argued as Kallian stayed silent, observing the exchange.

"Well a hell of a lot of good that did us! Yeah they defeated the Mandalorians...and then turned on their own! We wouldn't be here now if not for the Jedi, if not for Revan and Malak! They really helped us when they destroyed Telos and Taris; we wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for the Jedi!" he snarled as others grumbled in agreement.

"No, you're wrong! Tell them they're wrong," the girl pleaded, turning to Kallian with eyes full of hope.

"They're right," she said flatly. "I'm here to search for someone. It's just a coincidence that I was here to save you". She could barely stand to look in the girl's eyes, the shock and disbelief she saw there tearing at her heart, but she could not look away. "I'm sorry," she said quietly.

The girl simply nodded robotically, the rest of her body frozen by disappointment. Kallian felt her despair in the Force as the contemptible refugees guffawed with laughter, their glee at someone else's suffering enraging her. She could not leave her like this. She had to do something. "Here," she said, reaching her hand to her belt and pulling her blaster pistol, "you can use this to protect yourself. If I could do more...but this is all I can do for you. Forgive me".

The girl took the weapon in her shaking hand as Kallian turned away, her face filled with pain and self-loathing. As the catcalls and insults rained down on her, she half expected the refugee girl to shoot her in the back, but when she turned to look back, she was still watching her, the blaster held tightly in her hand. She practically ran to a maintenance tunnel, not wanting to be anywhere near these wretched people. She heard herself scream in rage, her fist slamming against the solid metal of the corridor. She left her blood on the durasteel, the unyielding material refusing to break under her assault. Switching to her artificial hand, she punched the wall again, leaving a dent even as pain shot through her upper arm. She wanted to destroy this entire world, to wipe away all this corruption and despair.

"Having fun?" an amused voice spoke from behind her as she drew in ragged breaths. Having not sensed anyone approach, she whipped around, lightsaber already in hand. "Hey, let's try to keep the lightsaber dismemberment to a minimum," the woman standing there said warily, throwing up her hands in surrender.

She was human, about the same age as she was or maybe a tad older, Kallian guessed, with vibrant red hair and brown eyes filled with a wry humor. She wore revealing clothing, something like a green scarf barely covering her chest with a green, leather jacket hanging open over her shoulders. She wore gloves and strange forearm gauntlets that from the looks of them were bristling with hidden weapons. The leather motif continued from her bare midriff, pants the same color as her jacket clinging tightly to her legs. She had a blaster slung low on her hip, but it looked like she was making no move to draw it. She obviously wanted to talk.

"Who are you?" she demanded violently, replacing her lightsaber on her belt. She had no patience at the moment to deal with more of these people.

"Little tense aren't we?" she commented before a poisonous glare from Kallian made her think better of avoiding the question. "I'm Mira, the best bounty hunter in the galaxy and that isn't bragging, that's fact".

"And what do you want with me," she growled, not liking the sound of this bounty hunter business.

"And I thought all you Jedi were supposed to be all calm and peaceful. Maybe they should have said impatient and nasty," she commented, leaning back against the wall and crossing her arms.

"I'm not in the mood to be screwed around with. I'm worn out and don't feel well, so get to the point," she snapped.

"I heard you're looking for a Jedi. I might know where to find one," she remarked with a grin, ignoring Kallian's unpleasant demeanor.

"And you expect me to believe this? You must think I'm a sodding idiot," the elven woman exclaimed, her voice laden with disdain. "How do I know you're not going to lead me into a trap?"

"Hey, if I wanted to kill you, I could have done it already. You Jedi should really pay more attention to your surroundings. I thought you had Force senses for that or some other arcane nonsense," she teased, but even her patience was wearing thin as a hint of challenge sounded in her voice.

Kallian readied a retort but she bit back her words, knowing the bounty hunter was right. She had let her emotions get the best of her and opened herself up for an attack. "Why didn't you? It seems like everyone else in this sodding galaxy is after the Jedi," she asked.

"There _is_ a huge bounty on your head, but I already have a client, and I don't double cross my customers. It's a good way to shorten your life," she explained with a shrug.

"And who is this client of yours?" Kallian asked.

"You'll just have to wait and see," Mira responded quickly. "Though I'm sure you'll be interested".

"Well, there's no point in hanging around this Force forsaken hole," Kallian spat. "Lead the way".

The bounty hunter nodded, gesturing to badly lit tunnel, graffiti and trash its chief characteristics. Kallian moved to follow, but her legs gave out below her and she stumbled forward, grabbing the shocked woman for support. She felt extremely ill, nausea overwhelming her as bile rose in her throat. She wretched uncontrollably, the foul smelling liquid stained red with blood. "Hey, are you alright," she asked with concern, trying to hold Kallian up as blood continued to pour through her mouth.

Kallian could only shake her head, tears filling her eyes as she tried to gulp down enough air between heaves. Mira lowered her to the ground, her eyes focused on something on Kallian's stomach. She pulled up the elven woman's shirt gingerly, revealing a scorched wound on her abdomen, blood beginning to seep from the charred hole. She nodded, removing something from her belt before saying, "Looks like you didn't do as good a job at blocking that attack as you thought. No exit wound, so some of that flechette round must still be lodged in there. Can't do anything about that here though".

Kallian grimaced as Mira lifted her up again, slinging her arm around her shoulder, "I've suffered worse wounds. It's never felt like this before".

"Hey, you don't have to prove anything to me. To take a flechette blast to the gut and keep going...I didn't think Jedi were that tough," she grunted as they moved forward. "Your pretty strange for one though. The way you move and the look on your face in combat, it's like watching my family again".

"And I bet they ended up with burning holes through their stomachs too, right?" she croaked, her throat burning from the acid.

"Something like that, except with lightsabers. The majority got crushed in the wake of you Jedi's mass shadow generator at Malachor though," she quipped.

"Jedi, but..." Kallian said weakly, her eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"Before you get your robes in a twist...yeah, I'm one of the Mando'ade, Mandalorians to you aruettise," Mira interrupted, seemingly unconcerned.

"Don't you hate the Jedi...for what they did to your people and to you?" Kallian asked, in no shape to defend herself from a vengeful warrior.

She sighed and clicked her tongue in annoyance, "That's why you people will never understand us. You think we're a bunch of rampaging savages, ignorant barbarians. It was the height of honor to fight the Jedi in a battle that will be remembered for ages to come. The greatest warriors in the galaxy, all gathered together to fight and die; what Mandalorian could ask for more? When Revan slew Te Ani'la Mand'alor in single combat, no one mourned for our loss, only the loss of our families and the end of the war".

"If someone hurt my family, I'd hate them more then anything. I'd make sure they suffered," Kallian growled.

"Huh, and I though Jedi were supposed to be above such petty attachments, strong emotions leading to the dark side and all that osik," she observed with a grin. "I guess with those eyes though, you might not be the typical Jedi".

A cold shiver ran through Kallian at those words, "What do you mean?"

Mira pointed to a pool of stagnant water and said, "Take a look. Yellow eyes...Sith eyes".

Kallian felt the urge to vomit again, those unnatural orbs staring up at her with revulsion. All those terrible memories came rushing back. She had sworn never to allow herself to fall again, but here she was, bearing the same darkness that had dragged her down before.

"I'm not saying you're a dark Jedi or anything," Mira said quickly, noticing her grim expression. "Not a lot of people would have done anything for that girl back there. Not on Nar Shaddaa at least".

"You were watching, why didn't you do anything?" Kallian asked, trying to take her mind off the horrible feeling in her chest.

"If you didn't intervene, I might of. This moon has enough tragedy as it is without adding to it," she responded as she dragged Kallian along. "You know though, giving her that blaster is just going to make her a target. It's easier for most of the people here to keep their heads down and try to go unnoticed, but hey, maybe you gave her a better chance than most. Who can say?"

Kallian was silent for a moment before saying quietly, "The woman who taught me to use the Force thought that helping people only weakened them, but another Jedi I know does everything he can to help the weak, even if the effort's fruitless. I know he's a naïve idiot who doesn't sodding know anything about reality, but maybe he's right".

"You're really one strange Jedi. I thought your whole order was more concerned with the bigger picture than agonizing over a few refugees on Nar Shaddaa, you know, the Republic, politics, and all that. You shouldn't worry about it and just help people when you can. That's what I think at least," Mira shrugged.

"Says the Mandalorian who hunts people down for coin," Kallian joked.

"We all have to make a living somehow, and if that means bringing in scumbags for other scumbags, well, there are worse things in life," she said with a laugh as Kallian's head shot back the way they had come.

The Force was thick with tension, alerting her to the danger that followed closely behind, "We're being followed," she said curtly, removing her arm from Mira's shoulder and adopting a wobbly stance.

The bounty hunter checked the readout on her gauntlet, her mouth curling into a snarl, "Fierfek! Looks like more than we can deal with, especially in your condition. If we don't get our shebs in gear, they're going to overrun us quickly".

"They're too close. We wouldn't get far. It'd be best just to stand our ground," Kallian growled.

"And what are you going to do, bleed on them?" Mira said sarcastically as she checked her blaster and loaded her forearm gauntlet with darts.

"I've had worse wounds," Kallian snapped, her hand dropping to the red blotch on her tunic. Gritting her teeth, she located the scarps of metal lodged in her stomach and ripped them out, bloody pieces of shrapnel bursting from her flesh. The pain was intense, and she immediately knew that she had done more damage than the initial shot had, but she easily staunched the blood flow with her power, lessening the immediate danger. "With a little healing, I'll be good as new".

Mira seemed unconvinced, her brown eyes focused on the trail of blood staining her tunic and the splatter on the dirty walkway. "If your not dead, I suppose," she offered, tension coloring her tone. "You're crazy, you know that?"

"I'm just trying to fit in here on this insane world," Kallian shrugged, her lightsaber activating with a snap hiss.

"Aren't we all," Mira laughed as she leveled her blaster toward the approaching voices.

* * *

Brianna grimaced as she heard the thug's neck snap, her strike leaving the Weequay's neck at an odd angle. More of Saquesh's hired muscle lay scattered around the control room, some merely unconscious but others not so lucky. Not that they deserved any mercy, their profiting from the despair of these refugees and their cruel plan to sell children into slavery proof of that. The Jedi way though, was that no individual deserved to die for their crimes, no matter how heinous and brutal those acts of evil were. Her mistress Atris had wavered in this belief though, her determination that the Sith be permanently eradicated and the necessity of this clashing against the code. For Brianna anyway, these deaths were justifiable. The mercenaries had attacked them first, refusing to come to a reasonable compromise, and their deaths were an unfortunate but unavoidable consequence.

Turning, she saw Lux staring down a cowering Saquesh with a hard look before shooting him in the head. Her mouth opened in surprise at his uncharacteristically brutal gesture, but she gasped when he fired again, obviously intending that there be no chance the Quarren survived the first bolt to the brain. He sighed, returning the smoking blaster to its holster as he observed the scattered bodies around him.

"But...but he was surrendering," Brianna said in a quiet voice as the Exile turned his gaze to hers.

"If I let him live, it wouldn't change his ways," Lux said quietly, his tired eyes glancing toward her and back to the slouched corpse. "Sometimes, the Jedi way clashes with reality, and you have to make a decision over whether to harm others or harm yourself. I'd rather betray principle than let a slaver like him go free".

"I understand," she responded carefully. "But remember that taking the easier path is a way to the dark side. It is easier to kill, but sometimes the peaceful way, though it may be more difficult, can solve more problems".

"You might be right," the Exile said with a hint of a smile. "Maybe you should be the one teaching me about the way of the Force".

"I am sorry. I should not have presumed..." she apologized, turning her gaze away.

"No, I appreciate any wisdom you can impart to me. Seldom is the relationship between teacher and student a one way path, or at least not a successful one," he said quickly with a grimace. "I wish I could still believe in that as you do, but the way of the Jedi is lost to me now. But we can talk later; Kallian seems to be testing her ability to avoid trouble at the moment".

"What about this Visquis...his invitation is obviously a trap," she asked.

"One thing at a time," Lux sighed. "We can worry about our enemies after we find our friend".

As they made their way through the hideout, Brianna could feel his anxiety even without the aid of the Force. She tried not to use her power at all, but the innate ability of Force sensitives to sense emotions and feelings remained hard to block out. He was worried for that girl who obviously had not managed to avoid drawing attention to herself. The surge of emotions she had felt and the darkness warping them had reached even her stunted senses. She knew Lux had wanted to leave immediately upon feeling the churning surge in the Force, but Saquesh needed to be dealt with. She barely managed to keep up with his heightened pace as they practically ran through the refugee quarter.

A blast of pain sundered the Force, staggering the sprinting pair as they made their way through the maze-like refugee camp. Brianna tried to steady herself, her hands involuntary grasping her head as the throbbing pain threatened to split her skull. Lux recovered quicker, but the look of nausea apparent on his ashen face gave away that he felt a similar unpleasant sensation. "A disturbance in the Force. Someone has just unleashed enough dark energy to affect the flow on this world...we need to get to Kallian," he spoke through gritted teeth.

Brianna knew even before they arrived that a battle had taken place here. The scent of burnt flesh still wafted in the air, and her hair stood on end like the atmosphere was filled with an electrical charge. When she saw the bodies and the scavengers picking them over, a brief feeling of disgust washed over her. The mutilated corpses were either burnt beyond recognition or cut into pieces, the lack of blood evidence that a lightsaber had been used in the demise of whoever these beings once were.

As they approached, on of the scavengers looked up at them angrily, barking, "This is our claim; we got here first! Find your own!"

Brianna stepped forward angrily, the scavenger wary of the blaster pistol hanging from her hip as she said coldly, "How disgraceful that you cannot allow the dead to lie in peace. How low you must be to steal from the dead".

"You can take the attitude and cram it schutta!" the scavenger snarled, returning to his work.

Brianna glowered, opening her mouth to retort as Lux stepped in front of her, his eyes warm and friendly. "We're not as interested in these bodies as we are in the one who did this. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

"And what do I get if I tell you?" he asked, greedy eyes looking up at the frowning pair.

"Maybe you might leave with a few less broken bones," the Handmaiden threatened, her silvery eyes alive with anger.

"Peace," Lux cautioned, placing a hand on her arm in a calming gesture. "Please friend, any help you could give us would do us a world of good".

The man's eyes glazed over and his face adopted a confused expression. He stuttered as he tried to speak, saying in a far away voice "Yeah...I can help you. You seem like an alright sort. Those Taris refugees over by the air vent, they picked over these guys first. Said something about a...Jedi, crazy lot them".

"Thank you. Here's a credit for the trouble," Lux said, flipping a chip to the dazed man before walking toward the refugees.

"Pretty generous with the credits ain't you, offworlder?" one of the greasy refugees observed as they came closer. "What're you looking for?"

"Those bodies...my friend back there say you know who killed them...and where they went," Lux said coolly, crossing his arms as he stood a few feet away from the seedy gathering.

"I might know, but my memory's not like it used to be. Maybe a few credits would help me remember," he grinned as the Handmaiden scoffed.

"Why do you get to choose what we get?" one of his cohorts snapped as he leered at the stone faced Handmaiden. "What about your friend there. Maybe leave us with us for a bit...and we might tell you".

"Now that idea ain't half bad," another interjected with a disgusting laugh.

Brianna stiffened, her hand tightly grasping her retracted staff, and even Lux's calm façade flickered for a moment, a touch of anger radiating out through the Force. "Sadly for you, I believe my companion deserves company of a...higher caliber".

"Well that's unfortunate for you, my memory seems to have completely gone," he sneered.

"I doubt that," Lux said coldly, waving his hand in a casual manner. "Tell me, if you would, where the Jedi who killed those men went".

"What...I...what did you ask again?" the man asked stupidly, his eyes glazed over.

"The Jedi, where is she!" he growled, the rising anger in his voice shocking to the Handmaiden.

"They were headed back to the market concourse...through the back maintenance corridor. That way," he said, pointing with a shaking hand.

"You said they. Who was with her?" Lux demanded.

"Some bounty hunters paid us for the information. They followed after her and the Mandalorian," he answered dreamily.

"Mandalorians? Perfect," the Handmaiden sighed.

"We have what we came for. Let's go," the Exile said brusquely.

"But what about these...vermin," she asked, shooting a venomous look at the refugees as they slowly woke from their stupor.

"What? You want to kill them?" he asked, turning away as she reluctantly began to follow.

"N...No, but they do deserve to simply be left unpunished. They sold Kallian's life to thugs without any remorse," she argued.

"Yes, they did...but your anger at them isn't because of that particular crime. They slighted your honor. I can only imagine what that means among the Echani, but a Jedi must rise over such petty emotions," he lectured in a stern tone.

"I thought I told you I had no interest in learning the Jedi ways. I am merely a guardian...not worthy of such a position," she snapped.

"So I've heard many times before," Lux responded dryly as he quickened his pace. "Well if it's not a master apprentice relationship you're looking for, perhaps you have something else in mind?"

Lux grinned wolfishly as the woman fixed him with a disapproving stare, "It seems even among the Jedi, all men are the same. Perhaps you are misinterpreting something, Master Jedi".

The title was spoken ironically, her acid words only causing Lux's smirk to grow wider. "My mistake then," he said with a shrug, his expression returning to a stern mask. "Best not to keep our bounty hunter friends waiting".

* * *

Lux could feel the dark side pervading the scattered corpses thrown about the causeway, their lifeless forms burnt out husks without any trace of the Force remaining. They had left the passageway only to walk into this massacre, dozens of mercenaries lying like desiccated shells. He watched the Handmaiden cover her mouth, her nose crinkled in disgust as she tried to keep out the stench of burnt flesh. Leaning down to touch one of the bodies, she recoiled like she had been burned, an expression of horror replacing the distaste.

"This is a Sith's technique," he said quietly, nudging one of the bodies with his boot. "Ripping the life-force out of someone and using it to fuel your own power...I haven't seen this for a while".

"Did _she _do this?" the Handmaiden asked, anger and revulsion coloring her every word.

"Unless there's a dark Jedi running around the refugee quarter, I would say it's the most likely possibility," he responded darkly. "Revan trained her. It's not too surprising that she would know such techniques".

He walked forward, kneeling down to a splatter of dried blood, the dark red painting the dirty duracreet. Scorch marks from blasters arrayed the crumbling barriers set along the causeway where the blood was located. Turning around, he saw more blackened holes gouged out of the tunnel entrance, evidence that a furious shootout had occurred here, but Kallian had little skill with a blaster. "I think she was accompanied by someone. Here," he said, picking up a small object from the ground, "this dart isn't anything like what Kallian tended to use in combat. Some of the bounty hunters were hit with them before the real party started. Unless they turned on each other...no, no one could have survived this death field".

"What should we do? Look for her?" the Handmaiden asked as she examined the bloodstained ground.

"Shouldn't take too long on a planet covered by a city of a trillion people, should it?" Lux said dryly, bringing his comlink to his mouth.

"I know that, but we cannot just give up before even trying," she retorted.

"I'm getting nothing from the comlink. She probably doesn't even know how to use it if she's in a position to. Fierfek!" he swore. "We should get back to the ship and see if she made it back. If not...we'll think of something".

* * *

For being located on Nar Shaddaa, the bar was not the seediest establishment Atton had ever seen. Few scars from blaster shots pitted the walls, the tables were relatively clean, and the clientele mainly kept to themselves. The place stank like cheap drink and fried food, but at least the booze did not seem to be more hyperdrive fluid than alcohol. The pair stood at the deserted bar, Atton nursing his glass of whatever they passed off as ale while Zevran leaned against the bar, his eyes watchful and his drink untouched. His eyes passed over the assortment of spacers and mercenaries sitting in the booths, one relaxed hand never straying far from a holstered blaster.

"Your just going to draw more attention to yourself if you stand there facing the crowd. You want to keep a low profile? Act like your not expecting trouble," Atton said with a grimace, the bitter swill burning his throat.

"Oh, I was just admiring some of sights," Zevran said with a sigh. "Those red-skinned ones over there, what are they?"

"Twi'lek," Atton answered. "Got a thing for the tentacle heads, huh? You and about every other sleazy bastard in the galaxy".

"I am simply one who appreciates beauty whatever shape it may take. I could say much the same for you the way you look at Kallian," Zevran pointed out.

Atton did not react to the statement as he took another sip of his drink. Looking at the bronze-skinned elf, he joked, "Hey, after spending months around nothing but men on Peragus, you got to cut me a little slack. Don't worry, I'm not trying to steal your girl".

Zevran chuckled, "My girl? I think you might be suffering from some terrible misconceptions. No, my charms have sadly proven useless in winning that particular prize".

Atton grunted a response, his eyes returning to the brown liquid of his drink. No, whatever this particular swill was, it was not Corellian ale. "Surprising though," Zevran said silkily, "that you would develop such an interest in her. Perhaps I am wrong, but I believe you harbor ill feelings for those with Kallian's particular talents".

"And how would you know that? I don't remember ever mentioning it to you," he said guardedly in response.

Zevran shrugged before saying, "I would be rather poor at my profession if I allowed certain dangerous proclivities, especially those potentially directed at my friends, to escape my notice".

Atton narrowed his eyes at the grinning man, "You have a problem with me, buddy?"

"Oh no, my friend. Nothing of the sort. I find you quite interesting, but if you would care to enlighten me about any...misjudgments I may have unfortunately made, please by all means," Zevran offered smoothly, his grin growing wider.

"You knew Revan, didn't you? What did you think of her?" he questioned, his voice taking on a harsh edge.

"Somehow I gather that my feelings on the enigmatic Revan are not what you are really asking for," Zevran said lazily. "Perhaps you wish to share a story of your own, hmm?"

"Couldn't hurt I guess. I remember years ago when I was a kid, they held a military parade in the Senate district on Coruscant. We were involved in some no-name senator's illicit dealings, smuggling arms to some backwater, so we just happened to be there otherwise we wouldn't have gotten close. I was never much for being patriotic, but seeing her with Malak and all those people chanting their names like they were gods or whatever, I felt something. Maybe it was crazy, hell it was crazy looking back on it now, but all I could think about then was fighting for the Republic," Atton mused. "She wore that Mandalorian mask even then and armor they said she peeled off one of the bastards. In a swirling brown cloak, anyone would think that the Jedi looked impressive. And right next to her was Malak all decked out in red, all smiles still before Revan hacked half his face off. I wonder even then if they weren't already manipulating us, turning the crowd into willing pawns".

"So you joined Revan's crusade?" Zevran asked, the smile gone from his now expressionless face.

"We fought from the Core to the Outer Rim, pushing those sons of bitches back to the borders of the Unknown Regions. Things changed as the war dragged on; we weren't fighting for the Republic anymore but for Revan. I can't explain it; it was like something had twisted in all of us. We hated the cowards back in the Core for hiding while the Mandalorians nuked world after world, and we hated the Jedi for calling those who led us traitors. We all believed in her and in the Jedi rebels who sided with us, but they were only using us," he said bitterly. "After Malachor, we came back to known space, but we didn't care about the Republic anymore. Neither did Revan. All her kind cared about was power".

"But you did not abandon her immediately. You stayed and fought against your allies, or am I wrong?" he continued to press.

"Until I wised up and saw how I was being used. I've been bouncing from one dive to another for a long time now," Atton finished with a sigh.

"And that is the whole tale?" Zevran inquired, piercing eyes focused on the brooding man.

"What, you don't think it's a good enough reason? You may be from some backwater no one's ever heard of, but the rest of us know what the Jedi get up to. A decade doesn't pass without some war breaking out between the Jedi and Sith, and for what? To get to sit in some luxurious palace for a few months before some ambitious apprentice kills the bastard in their sleep? To rule this kriffing galaxy?" he scoffed, anger reflected in his brown eyes. "Take a look around you, this sorry galaxy isn't worth the trouble. They say the Jedi are the defenders of the weak and helpless, but how's that working out for everyone in this hole? Maybe someday the galaxy will wise up and stop training Jedi to protect them only to get a lightsaber through the back in return".

Both men were silent for a while as Atton fumed, but he could not keep the rage bottled up inside as he snapped, "Maybe I can deal with the nonstop wars and all the shit the Jedi put us through, but when they start messing with your mind or turn you into some wild-eyed fanatic..."

"Controlling minds is it?" Zevran spoke, a bemused expression on his face. "I believe I witnessed Revan use that on occasion. Not to make light of your point, but...the results were often, how should I say, humorous".

"Yeah, I'm sure it's hilarious when someone else is controlling your actions, twisting your mind so that you can't even think to resist," he joked in a scathing tone.

"On my world, there are those with powers similar to Kallian's or Revan's. They have the ability to overcome the will of anyone using certain abilities and for that they are feared and hated. They are imprisoned, cut off from those without their power in the name of protection. It is interesting, how different your Jedi are treated compared to those unfortunates. Would you wish a similar fate on them?" the elven assassin asked.

"Might do us all some good if the crazies were all locked in cages in some far off corner of the galaxy. But what the hell do I know anyway," he shrugged in response.

"That could be said for all of us, my friend," Zevran laughed. "But all this grim talk is ill suited to this establishment. If you would like to join me, I believe the rather exotic specimen in the corner has been eyeing me with some interest".

"What, be your wingman? I think I'll pass," Atton said wryly.

"I am afraid I am not familiar with that particular expression, but I believe I have been misinterpreted. Alas, my efforts at subtlety have failed disastrously," he grinned lecherously. "I merely wished to inquire that a handsome man like yourself would be interested in joining in. The more the merrier you see".

Atton quirked an eyebrow but answered casually, "Kind of you to offer, but I only navigate through hyperspace one way. Sorry".

"Pity," Zevran shrugged. "The offer stands, so feel free to make use of it".

"I'll keep that in mind," he said dryly as Zevran sauntered the other side of the bar.

Atton returned to his drink, grimacing as he downed the rest of the bitter liquid. He signaled the bartender to fill up his glass despite the foulness of the concoction, the strength of the ale making the taste meaningless. Other patrons came and went, the cries of delight and muttered grumblings from the pazzak tables the only noise in the otherwise subdued bar. He looked back to check on the alien, shaking his head in surprise that the Twi'lek seemed actually to be enjoying his company. She opened her mouth to giggle softly, seductive eyes roving over the man's sculpted body and handsome face. As the conduct of the pair took a more amorous tone, Atton returned his gaze to the rows of bottles, the light reflecting off the bottles seeming to jump and weave.

He shook his head, trying not to focus on one thing for too long as everything seemed to move around him. Hearing a silky voice from behind him, he turned carefully, keeping his back to the source. Two blue-skinned Twi'leks stood behind him, one holding a blaster at her hip and the other holding dual vibroblades. Both had mocking smiles on their beautiful faces, their looks and the tight-fitting bodysuits they wore probably useful in getting their targets to lower their guard. Despite the cheap booze leaving his mind in a haze, Atton was still aware enough to know he was in trouble. His eyes flicked to where Zevran was sitting, frowning as he saw an empty booth and cursing the useless bastard inwardly.

Slurring his words, he said, "You two schuttas got something to say to me?" He hit the safety on his blaster, casually pulling the weapon from its holster and hiding it with his turned body.

One of the two spoke in Huttese in a laughing tone, informing Atton of nothing he did not already know. They were bounty hunters hoping to claim a sizable amount for turning in the Exile, their employer in the Exchange apparently interested in Jedi trophies. Obviously their arrival had not gone unnoticed.

Atton sobered up quickly as she raised her blaster, her mocking tone demanding the location of his Jedi friend. This was bad; he had let himself fall into a situation that should have been easy to avoid. It had been too long since his previous life; his training was starting to become less and less a second nature to him. He adopted a pained expression, looking away as if in shame like he was going to reluctantly tell them everything. "Look, if I tell you..." he began in a fearful tone as the alien woman relaxed her grip on her blaster.

He dived over the bar in midsentence, firing wildly as he slid over the metal counter. A blast of heat slammed into his chest as he cleared the bar, the blaster bolt dissipating as the fiber weave of his jacket absorbed most of the energy. He was not so lucky the second time as another red bolt burned through his side, a small tongue of flame licking at his flesh as his clothing burned around the blackened wound. He swore as he crashed into the ground, his head colliding painfully with the shelves behind him as shattered bottles fell on him, drenching him with noxious smelling liquor and shards of shattered glass.

He was only dazed for a second as he held his throbbing head, an expression of agony distorting his face as the pain from the blaster burn coursed through his nerves. He had cover now though, and this was not the worst situation he had ever found himself in. Placing his back to the bar, he looked over to the shocked expression of the barman frozen in glassy eyes, a black hole smoking in the middle of his forehead. "Sorry buddy, but better you than me," he rasped through gritted teeth. The insults raining down on him from behind the bar told him that he had not hit anyone, or at least anyone he wanted to from the enraged ranting of some Klatooinian from the sound of it.

Atton tried to take a peek above the bar, but before he could even bring his blaster to bear, a succession of shots where his head had been only a moment before forced him back into cover. He swore again, his mind running through strategies to try to extricate himself from this nightmare, but all of them seemed to end with a bolt to the head. Hoping to take them by surprise by attacking from a different location, he slunk to the end of the bar with blaster pistol held parallel to his body. He tensed as he prepared to swing his arm out, but a strangled cry froze him mid movement. Looking out, he saw Zevran with one arm holding the bounty hunter's head back at a sharp angle and the other holding a vibroknife sunk deep into her neck. His face bore a look of grim satisfaction as he held the choking alien, a horrible gurgling sound emanating from her mouth as blood filled her throat.

Her companion looked back in horror, the woman's name barely leaving her lips as the rapport of a blaster sounded through the cramped bar, the thundering blast reverberating off the low ceiling. She fell to her knees, a shocked expression on her face as another blast caught her in the back of her skull, snapping her head forward. Atton stood behind her, smoking blaster in hand as he grimaced from the pain in his stomach. He replaced the weapon in its holster as Zevran dropped the bleeding corpse, using his cloak to wipe the blood off his knife. "To slay such a beautiful thing...it almost brings me to tears," he joked, grinning at the frowning man.

"And where in the name of the Force were you when this shit was going down?" he asked harshly.

"Busy my friend, but fear not, I always had my eye on you," Zevran responded in a gregarious tone, slapping Atton on the back and causing the injured man to cry out in pain.

"A lot of help you were, _buddy_," he seethed. "We better get the hell out of her. The Exchange is apparently moving a little faster than we planned for".

Zevran nodded, turning to his recent companion and saying sadly, "I am afraid our encounter must be cut short, love. I am truly sorry. If it is to be, I sincerely hope that the Maker may allow our paths to cross again". He brought her hands to his lips as she pouted, Atton rolling his eyes the whole time.

"If your finished, we have places to be," he reminded the elf in an impatient tone.

"Let us be off then," he answered with a shrug, leaving the wounded and dead to the wild-eyed patrons.

* * *

"_Well at least the ship is still here_," Lux thought as the gray and red form of the Ebon Hawk came into view. With all the things that had gone wrong on this Force forsaken world, he dreaded returning to the ship only to find it trashed or worse. Kreia was on board, but he doubted that the wily, old master would deign to lift a hand should the ship come under attack. Entering the hatch, he was immediately confronted with the imposing figure of Bao-Dur and a surprisingly subdued HK-47. "Don't tell me, problem right?" he sighed.

"You could say that, but maybe you'll find it to be an improvement," the Zabrak said, an amused glimmer in his eyes.

"Well now that you got my interest..." Lux trailed off.

"We found some information on those droids that have been following us around. Apparently the Exchange has been employing them to hunt down Jedi, offering a huge bounty too. The informant didn't know why, but he knew that some boss called Goto is known to be the interested party," Bao-Dur explained. "But back to the improvement...the informant recognized HK's model and thought he might need some repairs. There seems to have been a slight mix-up..."

"Objection: I am functioning well above acceptable parameters. In fact, I have never felt so whole, so at peace. Observation: This galaxy is truly such a wonderful place," HK said in an earnest tone.

The Exile's eyebrow quirked up as he gaped at the normally murderous droid, "Well it does seem that something's wrong with him. What happened?"

"Something about a pacifist package apparently. At least he doesn't want to kill us all anymore though if we remove it, that might change," he joked.

"Objection: Violence is repugnant to this peace loving droid! I exist only to render aid to meatbags in need of comfort and tranquility," the droid quipped reproachfully.

"But you're an assassination droid! You love killing people!" an exasperated Exile said quickly.

"Clarification: Assassination droid? Surely you cannot have mistaken me for a heartless machine that kills innocents out of political or economic motive? Perish the thought! I live to serve meatbags!" HK continued. "Statement: I could never bring myself to harm another. Think of the pain and suffering that would cause not only to the meatbag in question but to family, friends...children! The littlest ones always suffer the most in war".

Lux shook his head, trying to keep laughter from bursting forth. "I don't think I'd call this an improvement," he said dryly. "Kallian isn't going to be pleased with this turn of events".

"Query: Kallian? My sensors indicated that she did not return with you. Is she safe? It would break my behavior core if the pointy-eared meatbag came to any harm," the insane droid asked, somehow managing to make a cold, metallic voice sound positively desperate.

Bao-Dur also looked to the Exile, waiting for an answer. Once again, his thoughts returned to the missing woman, a dark look casting a shadow over his features. "I have no idea where she is right now, but...she's alive at least".

"Run into trouble?" the Iridonian mechanic asked.

"Not us. Can't say the same for her," he said bitterly. "If we're going to mount some kind of rescue mission though, I have something else to talk to you about. Look at these".

He held out several parts, allowing Bao-Dur to take the fragile mechanisms from his palm. "Parts for a lightsaber. I thought it was Jedi tradition to build the thing yourself," he murmured, holding up the focusing lens to his eye.

"We're strapped for time. No one can work faster than you. Can you get it as close to the old design as possible?" Lux asked.

"I'll see what I can do. You'll have to set the crystal though...only a Jedi can do that," the mechanic reminded him.

The Exile nodded, pulling out a sharp, blue crystal from his pocket. The crystal was flawed, and normally, no Jedi would have ever used it to construct their personal weapon. He had no other choice though, as Nar Shaddaa was probably not the best place to be seeking lightsaber crystals unless they raided a Hutt's palace. They already had enough enemies already. He looked into the transparent crystal, scrutinizing the fine cracks in the rock. It was broken like him. Perhaps it suited him that way.

* * *

**A/N: Well it seems that every time i say updates will come sooner, in actuality even more time passes. Sorry, I will try to update more regularly in the future. I planned for Nar Shaddaa only to take place over one chapter, but that did not work out as I intended. Thanks to all for reading and for the reviews. Viper764, Alistair is a good person but he was highly dependent on the Warden in the game. Without Kallian, he might look to others for support especially with the pressure of leading the nation. MrEmperor, I'm glad you like the interaction between Revan and Alistair. Without Revan, I felt that the story just was not the same. Fayneir, thank for all the reviews; I am glad you liked the first story. I was unsatisfied with the ending of the Kotor series too especially since Lucasarts had to rush Obsidian so the ending of the second game felt so rushed. Hopefully The Old Republic provided some closure though I do not know how an MMO can really have much of a story to it.**


	8. Escape From Perdition

A distinctive change in atmosphere now affected the palace since Revan's arrival. There was more tension in the air, the servants constantly on edge, and a general gloom that seemed to have descended around the center of Ferelden. Some of the servants even complained about the chill that seemed to pervade the entire estate, the source none other than the rooms Revan had chosen as her own. Elissa had to agree with them, the cold in the air making her shiver as she approached the lair of this demon Revan.

They had seen no sign of her after their initial meeting, the mysterious mage apparently clear in her desire to avoid company. Alistair had explicitly forbidden her from talking with the mage, but if Ferelden was in peril from her presence, it was her duty to make sure that danger did not come to pass.

She padded through the halls, the echo of her boots hitting the ground and the jingle of chainmail seemed eerily loud in the quiet corridor. The door to Revan's quarters was ajar surprisingly, almost like she had been expecting guests. She saw the mage sitting cross-legged in the center of the bare room, her body floating several inches off the ground with her back turned to the opened door. She had heard stories of demonic possession, the way abominations could hover like spirits, not connected to the mortal plane. Alistair had assured her that this Revan was not possessed, but still joked that she was more akin to a demon herself.

She stopped at the door, her fist lightly tapping the doorframe to make her presence known and to avoid the impoliteness of entering uninvited. "I believe I made it clear that I would be meditating," a dark voice spoke, the woman not moving an inch.

"I apologize, but it has been several days since your arrival, and I wanted to speak with you," she said boldly, crossing her arms in defiance.

"Then speak...you are here are you not?" the mage asked, still making no move to face her.

Elissa walked forward, circling around in front of Revan and staring her down. Revan's masked face tilted a few degrees upward, but the opaque glass of her helm hid any expression she had there. "We were not properly introduced at our first meeting. I am Elissa Cousland, an advisor to His Majesty and one of the leaders of his armies," she said as Revan continued to stare.

She finally sighed and said glibly, "I am Revan".

When no other information was forthcoming, Elissa said in an exasperated voice, "I am aware of that. The King has spoken of you often, but with little detail. I hoped to find out more about you".

"No, you hoped to determine if I was a threat to your precious little kingdom and to your beloved king," Revan corrected as she tilted her head, waiting for a response.

"Yes, I will not deny it. I have no intention of mincing words with you," Elissa stated coldly.

"And yet you just did," Revan pointed out in a whimsical tone.

"Yes, but there is such a thing as tact. I did not want to make my intentions known so bluntly," the noble shot back.

"I prefer that individuals say what they mean. I have had enough dissembling and manipulation for one lifetime. Back home, a politician who did not speak with both sides of her mouth was a rarity. I prefer simplicity if you would indulge me," Revan explained.

"Then let us be frank. I believe you are a danger to this country. I need your assurance that you will do nothing to undermine Alistair or damage Ferelden any further," Elissa spoke harshly.

"You would be correct as to the former. The latter though, is more difficult to judge. The future is not set, and events may always move in such a way as to play havoc with our intentions. For the moment though, you can calm yourself. I care not for this country and your fool of a king, but neither will I take any action to hurt them out of simple spite," Revan spoke with a shrug.

"What happened to speaking bluntly," Elissa said sweetly, crossing her arms in annoyance.

Revan shook her head as her body returned to the ground. She stood up gingerly, holding her abdomen as she straightened but made no sound to indicate pain. Elissa was surprised at how small she appeared, her slight build almost like an elf's lithe form, but she still retained an intimidating presence. "No one can give a solid answer when the answer is not known," she said dismissively. "For the moment, however, you have more to worry about from your traditional enemies, the corruption that spreads throughout this world and the ridiculous faith the denizens of this world cling to".

"I take it you do not believe in the Maker then?" Elissa asked.

"Why is it whenever I come here I find myself trapped in another interrogation over my religious beliefs," the masked woman sighed.

"I take it that this is a common occurrence?" Elissa noted with a raised brow. "It is not so surprising, is it? Your kind is subject to a majority of the Chantry's attention. I can understand that you have a less than positive view of the Chantry, even if I do not agree with it".

"My kind?" Revan chuckled. "I sometimes wonder if they will not tire eventually of our endless wars. Maybe they will one day decide to lock us all up, lest we beget more death and destruction. Or perhaps my master will succeed and such thoughts will be rendered moot".

The noblewoman looked quizzically at Revan but the armored woman offered no explanation. Aware that she would probably receive little more information on this topic, she quickly changed the subject. "So Kallian...you said that she was your apprentice. You taught her to wield her magic then," she stated.

"I taught her nothing she did not already know. I ingrained upon her the truth of this world, that darkness lies in the heart of every woman, of every man. If you are speaking of techniques and not of philosophy, however, my lessons sadly fell on deaf ears," she said darkly.

"The hags of the Orlesian Chantry often accused her of being a blood mage...that she manipulated our king to do her bidding. They accused you of being the source of this evil, even though you were little more than a story used to frighten children...the great demon Revan who murdered an entire contingent of templars. They feared you and Kallian because the abilities they used to control mages were ineffective against your power," Elissa spoke as she lightly paced the room.

"And are you of the same opinion?" Revan asked sweetly.

"No. Those who spent time with Kallian and Alistair knew the rumors were naught but lies. If anything, Alistair tempered Kallian's wilder impulses like when she suggested abolishing the church entirely. They loved each other...anyone around them could see it if they were not blinded by their own prejudices," she responded harshly, angry at the slight against her honor. "She killed the man who betrayed my family. I am grateful to her for making him suffer at the end".

"I see," Revan said simply. "Your Chantry's fears are justified in a manner though. It is within our power to seize control of lesser minds, to bend the weak and ignorant to our will, but such a technique is a blunt hammer where a finer instrument is needed. Kallian was laughably pathetic in her execution of the former and mediocre in her mastery of the latter. Perhaps she improved during my absence if she wielded such power over this nation".

"You never said what the finer instrument was," Elissa pointed out, not comfortable with a discussion of mind control.

"It is merely the power anyone possesses: the power to lead, to draw others to you. Charisma," she shrugged. "Something so simple and yet so dangerous. Such as it is with all things, it seems".

"But you admit to using blood magic," the suspicious woman accused, her eyes filled with disgust.

"Perhaps a demonstration is on order if you feel the need to continue with your baseless assumptions," the masked woman stated in a silky tone.

Elissa's hand strayed to the hilt of her sword but she hesitated, the opaque visor seeming to look through her, and not for the first time, she wished she could see the eyes hidden underneath. Revan chuckled softly, her voice taking on an amused note as she said, "If simple words can evoke such fear in you, I wonder...if you would kindly take your weapon and strike me down".

Elissa blinked as the words filled her mind, the sound of Revan's voice echoing through her thoughts. The command seemed so obvious, so necessary. This woman was a danger, and it made perfect sense to kill her before she caused harm to the nation...or to Alistair. She gripped the hilt of her sword, drawing the blade forth slowly as the sound of metal sliding against leather filled the silent room, confusion replacing the certainty that had held place only a moment before. Something was wrong; she could feel a subtle pressure weighing on her thoughts, changing her feelings and perceptions. She gasped, forcing her half-drawn blade back into its scabbard as she fought against the compulsion twisting her mind.

The faceless woman continued to study her, and she could almost see the smirk forming behind the layer of metal and glass. "Huh, not so weak-minded after all. Surprising," she observed in satisfaction.

Anger and embarrassment had replaced her confusion as Elissa snarled, "Fiend! What foul magic was that? What did you do to me?"

"Satisfying your curiosity," Revan remarked dryly as the enraged woman glared. "Terrifying is it not? The masters barely give it a thought when they use such techniques. What power is more terrible than the ability to force others to obey you so completely that they cannot even think to resist? To become a slave in mind and body and wish it to be so?"

Elissa had to steady herself to keep from shaking. She had never felt so violated, so vulnerable. She had wanted to obey the command so eagerly...was it really so easy to lose oneself? But she had resisted, she thought, consoling herself that there was nothing to fear.

"Oh, but there is," Revan's silky voice broke into her thoughts. "That was a simple trick...subtle manipulation easily identified and ignored. If I wished to take control of your mind, I could dominate it with scarcely an effort, but your mind would break in the process".

"I...I will not let you do such a thing," the frightened woman said harshly, trying to keep her voice steady.

"How would you stop me?" the masked woman questioned coldly. "That was rhetorical obviously...you simply could not. But be at ease, I have no desire to pervert my power in that manner. Even I find such a thing...grotesque".

Elissa continued to glare at her as Revan sighed, breaking the silence between them. "Be glad, the fact that you can resist means you have nothing to fear from me".

"And what of the others here in the palace?" Elissa said suspiciously.

"I doubt I will have to resort to such crude methods to get what I want here. If anything, they will accede to my whims out of simple fear," she shrugged.

"They have good reason to be afraid," Elissa observed.

"Then perhaps they are not nearly as foolish as I thought," Revan joked.

Elissa raged at the flighty attitude of this insufferable woman, her fury growing with each insipid word she spoke. Someone who could speak of others so dismissively, condescending to those she considered to be 'lesser' beings, could never be trusted. She had come here to assuage her fears about the enigmatic mage, but not only was she not comforted, her fears had been confirmed. "You regard everyone around you as a fool, not worthy of your time. I have never met anyone with such arrogance that they could delight in the fear they evoke in those weaker than themselves," she lectured gravely.

Revan cocked her head, answering in a sickly sweet voice, "_I _put myself above others? It is not _I_ who believe that _I_ somehow have a right to lord over others by some coincidence of birth. These servants who answer your every whim, who pad your ego with flattery, why should they be servants? Why should you be a noble?"

"My family has served this country since the time of King Calenhad. I was trained from a young age to lead and protect. The servants you denigrate are scions of this nation whom I hold an obligation to," she argued.

"Yes, your _family_ filled this role and yet you offer no reason why they had the right to play it. It is a logical fallacy to suggest that you have a right to rule because it has always been so. It begs the question of _why_ it has always been so. The simple truth is that you have no justification for why you should be so exalted and not another. It is a perversion of the natural order of things when the weak lord over the strong, when one with merit is forced to grovel at the feet of those who have none," Revan said coldly, a dangerous edge to her voice. "I treat others in a neutral manner until they prove that they deserve more respect...or less".

Elissa knew that there was some truth to what she said with nobles like the unmissed Bann Vaughan and Arl Bryland's spoiled brat Habren not exactly exhibiting the best of Ferelden nobility, but the implicit slight in her words toward her family set her mind aflame with anger. "If neutral to you is a constant stream of vindictiveness and brazen condescension, I would hate to see how you treat those you consider unworthy," she spat. "And what of the weak? Would you have those with power make them slaves, crush them like worthless vermin?"

"Most of those who are weak have never even imagined that they could become powerful in their own right, too blinded by the strains and pressures of a universe that is unforgiving. All they must do is open their eyes, which I endeavor to ensure happens. For those that stubbornly refuse," Revan shrugged, "they deserve their place. Those who refuse to make any effort to improve their lot cannot and should not be aided".

"You have a rather warped view of compassion," the noble observed in a dark tone, her body tensing as she withdrew her longsword from its sheath and placed its tip to Revan's neck. The masked woman did not react, her body completely still as Elissa jabbed the sharp point into the woman's armored throat. "I hoped that you would dispel my doubts as to your continued presence here, but you have vindicated every fear I held regarding the danger you bring to this nation and its leaders. Tell me why I should not end that danger right here?"

"Do you honestly believe, even with your blade pressed to my throat, that you could ever be a threat to me?" Revan asked in a mirthful whisper.

"All it would take is one flick of my wrist. Even with your magic, I doubt that you could prevent me from doing so," Elissa stated coldly.

"Underestimating your opponent...you would not be the first. Many a general has been undone by such blind arrogance," the dark woman chuckled. "But perhaps I spoke too soon. Maybe the suggestion I planted in your mind was more effective than I first believed".

The noblewoman flinched at her pointed jeer, a revolted look passing over her face as doubts silently infiltrated her thoughts. A smirk formed behind the beskar mask as the former dark lord sampled the young woman's racing thoughts, her terror that she was still being controlled delighting Revan as she mused about how easily manipulated these fools were. "_All too easy_," she thought, the look of revulsion in the other woman's eyes too priceless to ignore. Grasping the broad part of the longsword with two fingers, she pushed the blade away from her with hardly any resistance. "This talk has been quite...enlightening, but sadly, all good things must come to an end. I believe your beloved king has need of you at the moment, so if you would leave me to my meditations..." she trailed off with a note of finality in her voice, leaving no doubt that any further attempts to engage her would not be welcomed.

Gritting her teeth in anger, Elissa opened her mouth to give voice to her rage but quickly thought better of it, not wishing to lower herself to this witch's level. She strode away quickly, leaving the again seated figure to continue brooding on a faraway glimmer in the Force.

* * *

Alistair gazed out at the bustling city from his customary spot, the noise of construction mixed with the everyday bustle of thousands of townsfolk going about their business. He looked to the uncompleted spires of the chantry, knowing that the Revered Mother's letter to the Divine would be reaching her in a few days. If her reaction were anything like that of her subordinates, it would probably take another hundred years to restore Denerim to its pre-blight condition after her armies of templars sacked it. The old woman had already demanded that the murderer of the Grand Cleric be turned over to face justice for her crime, even going as far as sending a contingent of templars to the palace.

He had been reminded by the stone faced sentinels that worldly power was only held with the grace of the Maker, the silent threat implied in their words not lost on anyone present. The fact remained that he could not give up Revan even if he wanted to, as any attempt would surely result in another grisly massacre. Sadly, the excuse that he was harboring a homicidal madwoman with demonic powers because he did not have any other choice had a rather slim chance of swaying the clergy's opinion. "_Maybe if I asked nicely, Revan will destroy all the armies the Chantry sends to kill us all_" he thought, a grin gracing his lips as he pictured the woman's incredulous reaction.

Quietly laughing to himself, he heard the swish of cloth behind him and immediately gripped the hilt of his sword, knowing that he had locked the door so that he would not have any unwanted visitors. Twisting around, he drew the sword halfway before his eyes settled on a brown-cloaked figure, wide blue eyes staring at him from beneath the folds of cloth. "Maker, Leliana," he said as he grasped his chest, his heart beating twice as fast from the surprise. "You scared me half to death".

The red haired woman pushed back her hood, exposing her shrouded face. Only a few years had passed but she looked different, her face careworn and lined with creases from stress and worry. Her eyes were still bright and vibrant though and a warm smile graced her lips. "It seems the talents I learned in my old life have been slipping if you noticed me at all," she said in a musical voice. "I wanted to surprise you".

"You certainly accomplished that. You didn't have to sneak in though. I'm always more than happy to welcome old friends," he said with a bright smile.

"The rumors I have heard tell a different story...one of a king who has barricaded himself in the palace, refusing to receive visitors. If I could, I wanted to avoid the hassle," she shrugged.

"Certain undesirable visitors maybe," Alistair remarked darkly. "I'm surprised the Chantry hasn't come to the door with a battering ram yet. Give them time, I suppose".

"Maybe they do not need one," Leliana spoke gravely. "And perhaps you should reconsider what visitors you welcome with open arms".

Alistair looked at her in confusion before his eyes drifted to the strange armor under the folds of her cloak. Black metal plates held together by expensive-looking leather straps covered her chest and waist, the heavy armor unlike anything he had ever seen on the nimble bard. Emblazoned on the center of the armor was the stylized depiction of a fiery sun with an eye at its center. He had never seen the symbol in person, but like any other leader in Thedas, he knew of the ones the Chantry sent to ferret out heresy and dissent. Even above the templars, the Seekers were the sword arm of the Chantry, mercilessly cutting down opposition at its root. "Well it seems that I've really stepped in it this time. Maybe someday I'll follow Kallian's advice and shut my mouth," he said wryly as a grim shadow fell over his eyes.

"The fact that you're honest is your most endearing quality, Alistair. I am glad you have not lost it after years of being in power," she smiled, trying to ease the tension now building between them. "I was returning from Kirkwall, and I wished to see you. It has been some time since we were all together, years in fact. You have heard of the problems the Qunari have been causing there, have you not?"

"I've heard rumblings, but with Ferelden still recovering, we can't really concern ourselves with the problems of neighboring countries," he answered. "Is the Chantry planning to move against them?"

"The Viscount has practically begged for us not to intervene, but I fear that there will be blood," Leliana sighed, holding her head as if it pained her. "Not to mention the simmering tensions between Meredith and the mages under her charge. I had word that the Divine was immensely concerned with the situation and close to becoming involved, but...that was before the little incident here".

"So you have heard. I suppose it's too much to hope for that you didn't," he said with a shake of his head. "What's it going to be? Am I too make a pilgrimage to Val Royeaux and grovel at the feet of the Divine or, perish the thought, will they tie me up and force me to watch while they have a banquet filled with Orlesian cheeses?"

"The Chantry does not condone such excruciating torture Alistair," Leliana laughed. "It is far more likely that you will stripped of your position, paraded through the streets as a heretic while the faithful throw all manner of filth at you, and finally a public execution with a blade of mercy held by an agent of the Maker's bride Herself".

"Comforting," he said dryly.

"Seriously though, rumors are all well and good, but I must hear what really happened and you are surely the one to hear it from," she said seriously.

"And what have you heard already?" he asked, resigning himself to the inevitable.

"That a maleficar either controlling you or with your blessing murdered Her Grace...and other rumors of a name I thought I would never hear again," she spoke quietly.

"It seems like Revan enjoys toying with us for all her talk of how insufferable we all are," the king said airily.

"Then it is true. Why has she returned...did she come for Kallian?" Leliana asked quickly.

"The man she was pursuing apparently came here. He beat the living sod out of her and left her stranded here," he explained.

"Revan defeated? Now that seems like quite the tale. Care to share?" she asked as one eyebrow quirked up.

"I didn't get the whole story...she seemed rather hesitant to tell. She was most likely embarrassed too with the way she showed up here looking like she had just fought the blight all over again," Alistair said with a shrug. "Needless to say, I don't think she will be going anywhere soon".

"I will have to send a message to the Divine. She will need to know the truth surrounding this incident lest she act on faulty information," Leliana spoke more to herself than Alistair, concern written on her face.

"Is that really a good idea...well I guess if you want to get me killed..." he trailed off.

"Relax Alistair, I will be able to explain this to the Divine and temper any hasty acts of retaliation. You are acting like I am your enemy," she said with a hint of sadness.

"I'm sorry...that...that's not what I meant at all. It's just...how do you expect to convince the leader of the Chantry that what happened to the Grand Cleric was unavoidable not to mention that we are still harboring the murderer," he said warily.

"I am quite close to Her Excellency in fact," Leliana said brightly. "She helped me during that whole mess with Marjolaine, and she was the reason I first joined the Chantry. You see...I told her about Revan and the nations of the stars".

"And she believed you?" Alistair asked in disbelief before saying under his breath. "Wait, I guess insanity does seek out like company".

"She had a rather similar reaction to when I informed you of my vision, I admit. Revan and Kallian's powers are far too similar to ordinary magic that they would not seem to be out of place among mages...but even she had to admit that Kallian was not affected by even the most skilled templar, and the stories told of a wingless bird that shook the ground when it passed overhead could not simply be dismissed," Leliana said carefully. "If I could not convince her, I at least implored her to keep an open mind".

"I'm surprised she even listened to you, or didn't you tell her about your role in the destruction of Andraste's remains," he remarked as a stricken look came over the Seeker's face.

"It is only one more sin that mankind has perpetrated against our Maker. She forgave me for my complicity where others would not have. She said that the Maker was merciful in helping us end the blight despite our transgression. Others would not have been so understanding, and that is why you can trust that she will be fair," she said with certainty.

"I'm sort of shocked that you even still believe after all we went through especially with what Revan showed us," Alistair continued.

"Why? Because of the Force or the fact that there are other peoples who live beyond our own world? It would be arrogant to say that the Maker created us alone...we were not even His first children. Why should He be so constrained as to only breathe life into one race with the spark of creation? It is only our pride and ignorance that puts such limits on Him. As for the Force...the Maker demonstrates His power in varied ways and it is not our place to question," she explained with fervor.

"Well if that's true, we'll be waiting an awful long time for the Chant to spread to all the stars in the sky, so He finally forgives us," he joked.

"_We_ failed the Maker, not those beyond this world. It is our burden to bear," she stated, absolutely no doubt contained within her eyes. "But enough about regrets we cannot change or should I say regrets of a different kind? Kallian's disappearance...has there been any word?"

"Revan said that she's alive...somewhere. I thought that that she would've had a hand in this, but unless she's lying, which is actually pretty likely now that I think of it..." he trailed off.

"I feared that she was dead. Those in the Chantry surely celebrated like it was so. It...it is a relief to hear this...thank you," she said with a bittersweet smile.

"Kallian wouldn't fall easily. Remember when she fought Revan with a gaping hole in her stomach? My memory's a little sketchy on that particular fight given that I was trying not to bleed to death," Alistair laughed.

"Yes, I remember. I'm glad we can look back and laugh about it now because it was not particularly humorous at the time, especially so for you," she nodded in agreement.

Both of them fell silent as Alistair's face took on an anxious look, memories of Kallian only renewing the pain. "I'm afraid...that she might never return. That moment in the Deep Roads...I thought that feeling would last forever, but no matter how hard I tried to hang on to it, it just kept slipping away. When I last saw her, she was crying, blaming herself for failing the both of us. I couldn't console her, and I just hurt her more. That's why I thought she left at first, because I was such an idiot. I guess it was stupid...thinking that everything was all about me".

Leliana crossed her arms over her chest, an appraising expression adorning her face, "You are an idiot, Alistair. That's why Kallian loved you, but I can see why she would want to leave with you moping like this. Honestly, you should stop feeling sorry for yourself and fight for her".

Alistair's eyes widened in surprise at her biting words as he stammered, "It...it's not so simple, Leliana. If I was still just a Warden, I could do what I wanted, but I have a duty to this nation and all my subjects. Should I force them to endure more war and leave this country without a king when I die...I just can't do that. I knew this back then...I never wanted to be king".

"I am not going to tell you how to live your life, Alistair. You have a choice to make, and you better make sure to not bungle it," she sighed, shaking her head.

"Don't you ever wish we were back in the days of the blight? Everything seemed simple back then," he said longingly.

"Yes, all the darkspawn, political intrigue, and living in a makeshift camp knee-deep in mud made for the time of my life," she said sarcastically. "But yes, I miss traveling with everyone. I wonder where they all are now".

The door to the room creaked open suddenly as the pair turned their eyes to the visitor revealed to be a rather disheveled-looking Elissa, her eyes narrowing suspiciously as her gaze focused on Leliana, "I am sorry, Your Majesty. I was unaware that you had a guest. I will leave you," she said with a vaguely hostile tone.

"Alistair, Elissa," he reminded her. "You don't have to leave. I was just meeting an old friend. This is Leliana...one of my companions during the blight".

"Oh, I am sorry for my rudeness. It is an honor to meet one of the heroes who saved this nation," she recovered quickly.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Elissa. Oh, please forgive me. I did not know how you wished to be addressed," Leliana said brightly as the woman in front of her glowered, obviously noticing the former bard's thick Orlesian accent.

"It is rare to find an Orlesian in these halls. What business do you have with Alistair?" she asked a little too sharply, years of hatred of all things Orlesian being ingrained in her clearly showing.

"Ah, well...you see..." Leliana began, momentarily taken aback.

"She just wanted to have a chat with an old friend. It's been years after all," Alistair interrupted. "But enough about that, you seem...a little pale Elissa. Are you coming down with something?"

He reached out to her, placing a bare hand against her forehead. Both women looked at him in shock with Elissa frozen with embarrassment and Leliana narrowing her eyes, shooting Alistair a dangerous look. "Oh...no...everything is perfect...I mean everything is perfect with me," the noblewoman rambled as Leliana scoffed under her breath. "I met with Revan and the encounter was rather...well, disconcerting to say the least".

"She didn't do anything to you, did she?" the king asked, already thinking the worst.

Elissa hesitated, neither wanting to tattle on the witch like a bratty child nor look weak in the eyes of the man she loved, but she could not simply allow this blood mage to have a free reign in the palace. "I asked her if she was a blood mage, so she thought it would be informative...if she demonstrated her power to me," she admitted painfully.

"Demonstrated?" he asked in a confused voice as he checked her exposed skin for the burns he knew that killing lightning left. "She attacked you?"

"She did...something to my mind. I felt like I was not in control anymore...no, that...what she did...I cannot explain. I felt compelled to do as she asked, but I managed to resist her," she explained as she tried to clear the terrible feeling from her mind.

Alistair opened his mouth to speak but Leliana interrupted, a bemused smirk on her face. "Oh, I remember how she used to do that. Do you remember when Kallian tried to trick the templar at the Circle Tower, Alistair?" she giggled softly.

"You...you think this is humorous?" Elissa said aghast.

"Of course not...well, maybe," she admitted with a guilty smile. "Revan likes to scare people off I think, but I think it is just a way to protect herself. She is really not so bad".

"Have you gone even crazier in the years I haven't seen you?" Alistair said wryly. "Maybe she messed around with your head as well".

"She said her power is only effective on those who are open to suggestion, the weak-minded if I recall, right?" the Seeker thought out loud.

"It still doesn't excuse the fact that she used it against Elissa. I'll talk with her about it and make sure it doesn't happen again," he resolved.

"No! This is my problem, and I can handle it myself besides...I do not want to see you hurt because of my own wounded pride," she admitted softly.

"Relax, I'm sure it will be fine. If Revan wanted to off me, she would have just left me to bleed to death in the alienage all those years ago," Alistair quipped, shooting a knowing look at Leliana.

"That woman saved you?" Elissa exclaimed in surprise.

Alistair shrugged as Elissa's gaze returned to the glaring Leliana, the white eye painted on her armor finally catching her attention. Leliana saw her change in expression as she became aware of the symbol and smiled grimly. "Before you ask...yes, I am a representative of the Chantry and the Divine by extension".

"Then this is not merely a social call," Elissa grimaced. "You are here about the murder of the Grand Cleric. If you claim to be Alistair's friend and an associate of that witch, surely you will not implicate him in all this".

"I did not lie earlier...I came here to see Alistair and nothing more," she said dismissively. "When I arrived, however, the incident which you refer to came to my attention. I understand that one version of the unfortunate event is now on its way to Val Royeaux. I will send a letter to the Divine explaining the situation, and hopefully my words can sway her to ignore it for now".

"Thank you," Elissa said breathlessly. "Perhaps not all Orlesians are as dishonorable as I thought".

Leliana frowned at the backhanded compliment but said nothing, turning to Alistair with an appraising look. "Well it seems like you are taking Kallian's absence quite well indeed. Maybe you have changed more than I first thought...and not for the better".

Alistair sputtered incoherently as Elissa looked like she had been slapped. Leliana turned away, sighing to herself and saying in a disappointed voice, "What you do in private is no business of mine, but I hope you would remember that the Maker sees everything...not to mention how Kallian would feel".

"I think you are getting the wrong idea here," Alistair blurted out.

"Clueless as always...at least that has not changed," she shook her head. "Come, if I am not mistaken, you have a meeting to attend".

"It's jut one headache after another," Alistair groaned as Elissa gave him a weak smile.

* * *

A snap hiss shattered the suffocating silence, the familiar sound evoking memories both exhilarating and painful, the steady thrum of the energy blade strangely comforting to the man who held the weapon. Lux inspected his rebuilt lightsaber, hefting it to check the weight and balance, a little disappointment showing in his face s he realized that this new blade could never replace the one he had built as an apprentice so long ago. Bao-Dur had constructed the weapon almost perfectly from memory, the mechanical genius in him never forgetting the schematics of any machine he had ever laid eyes on. It was good to feel the cold hilt of a lightsaber in his palm again but also sobering in a way, as now he could no longer hide from the nightmare of his Jedi past.

The saber failed to live up to the refined standard of his old weapon, scrap metal replacing the silver-plating that reflected the pulsing white blade. The hilt was largely smooth, wrapped cloth standing in for the more common grooves standard to lightsabers to help with gripping the blade. Longer than most, the hilt was curved before straightening as it neared the focusing lens. The curved blade enabled the use of more precise movement in lightsaber combat, but made it all the more difficult when dealing with multiple enemies armed with repeating blasters. It seemed to him though, snobbish as it may be, that a Jedi was meant to face other Force users in combat, not the ordinary, Force blind soldier. Maybe he was just old fashioned that way.

The design of the blade reflected this attitude, two prongs rising from the emitter matrix and curving forward, mimicking the older designs of the Jedi during the Great Sith War. Members of the Order then had been encouraged to be more individualistic, an attitude that was reflected in their lightsaber designs, many taking on an outlandish appearance and being constructed of rather strange materials. The masters had been troubled in the war's aftermath over the independence that many of the Jedi of the era had exuded, and so had fostered a greater sense of conformity and strict adherence to the Code in the next generation, of whish the frowning on individualistic lightsaber design had just been one of the symbolic changes.

So in his hand laid the rebuilt expression of his first act of minor rebellion against the masters, childish and self-centered as it may be. His companions had displayed their disdain for the Order's stifling rules in other ways such as Revan with her saberstaff, a design far too reminiscent of Exar Kun's whose name still brought shame to many of the longer-lived masters on the High Council. In contrast to his own garish design, Revan's sabers had a simple, utilitarian feel to them, reflected in the weapon Kallian wielded being only a simple silver cylinder with black grooves made of polished stone. To Revan, a lightsaber was not a romantic anachronism harkening back to a more chivalrous age of single combat and legendary duels, but simply a highly effective tool for murder.

He deactivated the blue blade, replacing the weapon on his belt as he turned to the Handmaiden, her eyes transfixed on the energy weapon with something that looked almost like longing. "Well now I can actually be useful in a fight, so you don't have to protect me anymore".

"I did nothing of the sort...I have confidence in your abilities," she retorted.

"Hey, it's not like I don't like you looking after me. It's good to know a beautiful woman's got my back," he said lightly.

"It is a shame then that you can take care of yourself now," she said coldly, but he thought he saw the hint of a smile on her lips.

"Ouch. People are so touchy these days. Try to give them a compliment..." he shrugged. "Since Kallian seems set on being fashionably late, I guess it's up to us to go drag her to the party then".

"Do you really think it is a good idea to keep her with us? She is obviously a Dark Jedi if not a Sith. Having her travel with us is an invitation to betrayal," she stated hesitantly, trying to gauge his reaction.

"Why do you think she's a Dark Jedi?" Lux said evenly.

"Could it be more obvious?" she asked incredulously. "She was taught by Revan...and sometimes I can feel the dark side rolling off her. So much anger and hate".

"Having a little anger inside doesn't automatically make a person a servant of the dark side," the Exile reminded her. "She has strong emotions, yes...most of which feed her negative feelings, but she has done nothing to provoke such suspicion in you. Mere dislike of a person is not enough to accuse them of falling to the dark side".

"My personal feelings have nothing to do with this," she spoke loudly, anger beginning to color her words. "It is obvious that she has been influenced by Revan. You heard how she despised the poor souls in the refugee quarter. Believing that others are worthless and beneath you is one step toward feeling nothing over using and destroying them!"

"It is a concern," he admitted, trying to calm her, "but...differences in opinion and personal feelings toward one philosophy or another are not reasons to declare someone a Sith without considering the reasons for these beliefs. Isn't it wrong to condemn someone without even trying to understand them?"

"Yes, but..." the Handmaiden began before Lux cut her off.

"It is not surprising that you would feel this way given your long association with Atris, but you must understand, Atris is _not_ the paragon of the Code you consider her to be. She sees the world in black and white, light and dark with no room for anything in-between, but that is not how this galaxy really works," he insisted. "From what I've learned of Kallian and felt within her...she did not come from the best of circumstances. When everyday is a struggle to survive, when you don't even know when your next meal will come...it's hard to care about how pure and good your soul is. We were lucky to be born without having to worry about the bare essentials as they were always taken care of for us, so we had time to worry about the inner struggle between dark and light. Kallian never had that opportunity. Even if you dislike her, and even if you're right about the darkness within her, at least give her a chance to work it out on her own. Give her the opportunity that we had".

She looked away at his words, trying to hide the pained expression on her face. "You shame me, Exile," she murmured. "I am sorry. It is difficult to recognize the darkness within our own hearts when we are blinded by the flaws of others".

"A lesson all of us could do to learn," Lux spoke in approval before his comlink began buzzing with an incoming message. "Speak of the Sith".

He placed the comlink to his mouth, his wry smile evidence that a witty jab was sure to come, but the voice on the other end of the connection interrupted before he could say anything. "I assume I am speaking to the Jedi," the voice said brusquely as Lux's eyes narrowed.

"And to whom am I speaking?" he asked, his tone cold and hard.

"Someone who might know where your pretty, little Jedi friend is," the voice spoke, self-satisfaction evident in its smug words.

"And the reason for your call?" the Exile spoke quickly.

"I thought that we could maybe work out a deal. You wouldn't want anything to happen to such a pretty thing, would you?" the voice spoke with a chuckle.

"What kind of deal?" he spoke dangerously.

"Uh-uh. You come to me first and then we discuss what my terms are. Warehouse district, Block Eleven, Room Thirty-eight. Your friend will sadly be unable to join us, so if you have any scheme working around in your head, I'd put the stop to that right now. You wouldn't want dear Kallian coming to any harm, would you? It's been tough keeping my boys back so far, and without me to keep them in line...well, I'll let you work it out for yourself," the voice said menacingly as the connection suddenly broke off.

Lux closed his eyes, willing himself to stay calm. He recited part of the code in his mind like a mantra, repeating "_There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no passion, there is serenity_," but he knew it was a lie. He felt rage threaten to boil over and a deep fear almost freezing him to the spot. He knew he should not have let her go off on her own, not on this world.

"Exile, are you alright?" the Handmaiden asked quietly, her eyes wide with concern.

"I'm fine. We better get moving," he managed to speak in a choked manner.

* * *

At the same time, Mira placed the voice synthesizer in her pocket, a wide grin plastered on her face. She placed the comlink on the storage container next to a simple cot, the sleeping Kallian tossing fitfully on it in a nightmare. Checking her belt for missing ammunition and making sure her gauntlets and blaster were ready to go, she slipped silently to the heavy door, stealthily closing and locking it before making her way through the dilapidated warehouse. As she made her way out, she said to herself, "Sorry Jedi, but I can't have you interfering with a job now can I?"

* * *

Kallian thought she heard a faint click, but when she tried to move toward the source of the noise, she found her body to be paralyzed. A wave of horror froze her blood as she tried desperately to move but to no avail. She tried to call for help, but no sound escaped her strangled throat. She woke with a start, heavy breathing echoing off the walls of the confined space. She grasped her chest, feeling her heart beating far faster than normal, but she reassured herself that it had only been a dream, a vicious nightmare.

She remembered little of what happened or how she got here, only recalling the killing energy erupting from her palm and stealing the lives of the mercenaries who had dared to confront them. Their lives had healed her wounds, but the exertion of such power had left her exhausted, so that Mira practically had to carry her to a broken-down airspeeder. The woman had not commented on the display of dark side energy to her knowledge, but her memories of the ride back were vague, and she remembered nothing about this place or how she came to be sleeping here.

She got up gingerly at first, but surprisingly, no stabbing pains shot through her body, the wound on her stomach completely healed. She shook her head in disbelief at her own obliviousness, remembering that the power to drain life and use it to restore her own body was well within her power though she had still not mastered it to call upon it at any time yet. Looking up from her burned tunic, her mind froze as she saw a man sitting across from her, his eyes staring intently at her with a concerned expression.

She reached for her lightsaber but panicked when she found nothing attached to her belt, the Force rising within her as she prepared to unleash a wave of telekinetic energy at the seated man. He rose to his feet quickly, arms forward in a gesture of peace as he said, "Calm yourself, young one. It is not my purpose here to harm you".

She did not lower her guard, energy crackling around her fingers as she glared at him suspiciously. "You, a stranger, sit there watching me sleep like some kind of creep, and you want me to calm down and listen to your explanation?" she growled.

"I believe Mira told you of me if she did not lie. I am the master she spoke of, and I have quite an interest in you," he explained, his expression growing harder as he eyed the electricity arcing between her fingertips.

"A Jedi Master, you?" she questioned with a disbelieving look. She had expected a great warrior like out of the stories her mother had told her as a child, not a slightly overweight man in nondescript clothing with a balding head and oversized mustache. He looked like he should be standing guard of a tavern bar, not fighting the greatest warriors in the galaxy on the battlefield.

"I was once a part of the High Council, yes...but no longer. Dark forces now hide in the shadows of the galaxy, waiting for the few remaining Jedi to come into the open," he stated with a hint of sadness. "When I saw you in his company, I thought that my enemies had finally tracked me down, but perhaps I came to that conclusion too swiftly".

"So you knew Lux was here, and you didn't do anything," Kallian said indignantly. "Do you know how much time we wasted searching for your sorry ass across this nightmare of a world?"

He did not look pleased at her words, disappointment present in every look he gave her. "I did not wish to meet with the Exile until I could be sure he was still a servant of the light or if he too took Revan's path. You on the other hand are a mystery to me. All of the padawans who passed through the Temples on Coruscant and Dantooine are known to me, but one so obviously gifted with the Force yet not a Jedi accompanying one who would have every reason to harbor a vendetta against us leads me to only one conclusion".

"You think I'm a Sith," she spat with roll of her eyes.

"There is much anger in you and confusion over the path you will walk. It is common with apprentices as young as you, still growing into their powers," he continued, ignoring her accusation. "Mira told me that you selflessly interceded to save a young girl and yet you killed without mercy, employing the worst of Sith techniques to give your enemies an unnecessarily painful end. I wonder about you...will those eyes like shards of ice turn a cruel yellow hue?"

Spare me the lecture...where's Mira anyway?" she asked looking around.

"Walking into a trap as we speak," the Jedi Master said glibly. "And that is where I have need of you. I would like you to follow her and keep her out of danger".

"So let me get this straight...the girl working for you is walking right into a trap, something you knew already, and you let her go anyway?" Must be great working for you," she said dryly.

"She refused to be dissuaded. Perhaps it is in her nature to want to feel useful. It is not the place of the Jedi to protect those who insist on walking into folly, but neither can I do nothing," he explained.

"You are doing nothing. You want _me_ to go and look after her. You don't even trust me; what are you playing at?" she growled.

"I cannot risk being exposed to my enemies. If a Jedi is known to be here, it may bring the attention of those who would think nothing of snuffing out every life on this moon. You are not a Jedi, however, which makes your part in this ideal," the master explained.

"You're such a coward," Kallian spat. "Everything I've heard about the weakness of the Jedi is true. Hide behind words if you must, but I see through the façade".

"You see less than you imagine," he said with a ghost of a smile. "Revan too called us cowards for choosing to stand back where the truth could be discerned rather than _heroically_ rushing into disaster. Sometimes the just path requires you to sacrifice your pride and honor in order to protect the innocent. I would not see this world destroyed to satisfy my own ego".

"Well I guess you better lose the principles fast because there isn't any sodding way I'm going to track down some bounty hunter I've only known for a few hours and put my own ass on the line," she said sweetly with a smirk.

"Then perhaps my measure of you from the beginning was unfortunately correct," he sighed, touching a nerve of Kallian's.

"You don't know the first thing about me, bastard," she spat, shooting him a deadly glare before beginning to walk out, stopping only when she remembered her lost lightsaber. She saw the silver cylinder placed on one of the storage crates and summoned it to her hand, her mind at war with itself over whether to ask the question driving her insane. "Where did Mira go?" she asked casually, having lost the battle with her conscience.

"A rather popular watering hole on the other side of the district, the Jekk'Jekk Tarr. You should be aware that the atmosphere inside is poisonous to oxygen breathers like us should you find yourself inside," he answered, his eyes studying her intently.

"I was just asking. It's not like I'm planning on heading over there or anything," she snapped in a dismissive tone, not knowing what oxygen was but getting the general idea.

"As you say," she heard him speak softly as she left the room, her stride quickening into a run.

Kallian was halfway across the causeway before she remembered that she had no idea where she was going, could not read the signs even if she could somehow discern the directions they gave, and had no idea what this place looked like. She could not just stop though with Mira dealing with Maker knew what, so she focused her mind, expanding her presence through the Force and searching for the young Mandalorian. Finding one person in a sea of people was difficult, the trillions who dwelt on this world making the dead rock sing with the Force, the interconnected web of life pulsing and shifting before her.

She remembered Kreia's teachings and she sought to listen, searching for the ripples of emotions that sent flashes of light careening throughout the Force. She felt anger and fear everywhere, desperation and hopelessness wrapping the moon in a dark shroud, the light of the Force filling her mind as she allowed it to guide her to the one she sought. She felt the cockiness, the abrasive attitude used as a shield to hide vulnerability, and the uneasiness. Thoughts and images filled her mind: a group of aliens surrounding her with blasters drawn, a giant, hairy creature bearing two vibroblades, its roar shaking the arena, a world burning around her, faceless soldiers with fire reflected in their glass visors reaching gauntleted hands toward her. Kallian opened her eyes, Mira's presence before her like a fiery beacon in the Force, the memories that were not her own fading back into the Force.

She finally reached the cantina after a few minutes of desperate sprinting, the multicultural denizens on this district observing her with interest as she sped past. The Jekk'Jekk Tarr was gaudy to say the least, neon lights constantly shifting into different colors looking like veins of raw lyrium. Several racy silhouettes of women of some unknown species rotated above the entrance where the establishment's name in strange lettering shown so it could be seen blocks away. Many aliens and more than a few humans loitered outside the cantina, all looking at her with suspicion, but she ignored them, letting the trash sell their bodies and substances to destroy them.

She waited until her breathing slowed before making her way to the entrance, pushing past the crowd to an alien that stood in front of the door, its four eyes focused on her. The alien, apparently male by the sound of his gravelly voice, said in an aggressive tone, "Schutta, this place isn't for your kind. And don't even tell me you're working the concourse tonight, I know everyone working this district and you ain't one of them. You need a sponsor in the Exchange if you want to work the upper levels and that means putting credits in the right hands, know what I mean?"

Kallian took a deep breath as the alien leered at her, her hand extending forward as she smashed the four-eyed freak into the metal door, tearing it from the frame and sending it into the cantina with a loud crash. Poisonous fumes flooded out from the building, the release of pressure sending a greenish cloud into the street. Some in the crowd simply stood gaping at the damage while others fled the misty gas now settling on the street. Kallian activated her lightsaber and sped into the cantina, her mind completely focused on reaching Mira.

She decapitated the bouncer before he could reach for his blaster, but quickly found herself pinned behind a booth as a firestorm of blaster bolts sizzled through the air. She found the improvised barrier to be rather poor cover as fabric melted around her, flames rising from blackened padding. A silver sphere clattered on the dirty floor near her position, rolling a few feet away from her as she looked at it in confusion. A light in the ball blinked continuously at an ever-faster rate, flashing a bright red before the sense of danger in her mind spiked. She had no time to push it away as she brought her arms up in a futile attempt at protection, the object exploding as she tried desperately to form a cushion of air around her huddled form. The shockwave hit her like a battering ram, slamming her body against the booth and wrenching the smoking seat from the ground. She felt hot air sear her skin, her clothing catching flame as the blast shook the room.

The dazed elf coughed slightly as smoke wafted through the air, grimacing in pain as she sat up, her body feeling like shattered glass. She was sure she had cracked a few ribs, but far more serious was the power of the explosion forcing the air from her lungs, the danger of suffocation far more deadly than any blaster. She had no time. The Force would help, but she had maybe five minutes before she blacked out.

Kallian darted out from the smoke, her lightsaber reigniting as she charged the surprised patrons. She stayed low, blocking stray bolts as she smashed headlong into a shocked-looking alien with a red face and horns, lightsaber buried deep in its chest. She called on the Force, imagining a whirlwind buffeting the aliens surrounding her, bottles of liquor smashing and shards of glass flying about like thousands of spinning knives. The suffocating woman did not wait to see the results of her attack, the flashes of pain and rage along with the blood joining the maelstrom assuring her that it would keep them distracted at least for a little while more. She shoved one of those aliens with tentacles jutting from a bulbous head out of her way as she made for the doorway, its hand grasping toward a shard of glass wedged in its throat.

Bursting into another room, this one populated by groups of insect-like aliens with large, gray eyes, she sent a wave of the Force careening at them as a spinning attack ended the lives of the trio guarding the entrance. Seeing a blaster pistol aimed at her head, Kallian ripped it from the alien's grip and to her own hand, the bodies of the unfortunates struck by the Force wave still airborne as she stabbed her saber through the insect's chest, vaporized blood exploding from the wound like foul-smelling steam. There were so many of these annoyances, scurrying vermin sending volleys of blaster fire toward her as Kallian desperately dodged between overturned stools and booths, her lungs burning all the while. Knowing it to be pure fantasy to imagine that she could hit anything at range, she barreled into the huddled aliens, the Force guiding her hand as she blocked shots and sent bolts of her own sizzling into the disgusting husks. Even up close, her aim was poor, but a blazing lightsaber cut down any not already down filled with smoking holes.

It became apparent that maybe she had overestimated her ability to fight without any air, as Kallian's vision swam, black dots beginning to obscure her sight. She stumbled forward, aiming the stolen blaster at the few remaining patrons but shooting wide with the first two shots before the blaster clicked. She did not have time to examine it for the problem as return fire forced her behind cover, one blazing shot scorching her face and leaving the scent of burning hair in the air. "_The air! Shit!_" thought Kallian as she realized that her desperation for air had caused her shriveled lungs to involuntarily breathe in the poisoned atmosphere.

She was out of time. Fighting would just delay her, so Kallian made a mad sprint following Mira's faint trail in the Force. Blaster fire licked her singed cloak, a few charges of energy coming close enough to burn her skin but thankfully no direct hits. Dropping down into the sewers below the establishment, she continued to run on muscles growing increasingly sluggish, the Force the only thing keeping her upright as it drew the remaining oxygenated blood into her brain and muscles.

Her trip through the maze of the sewer was a blur, her vision obscured by greenish clouds of gas and the effects of hypoxia while her oxygen-starved brain barely registered any sensory input. When she came to, she found herself laying on a metal grated floor and a blast door smashed inward behind her. Her lungs felt like she had breathed in fire and as she coughed, frothy blood splattered on to her hand, painting it a bright red. Using the Force to check for injuries, she determined that her ribs were still in place though fractured, the force of the explosion fortunately not causing any internal damage. The small amount of poisoned air that had entered her lungs had caused some hemorrhaging, but noting that would be immediately fatal. Overall, she was lucky, especially after deciding to go after Mira with no plan and with no idea of who or what would be waiting for her. The tiny bomb unnerved her the most, as it would be ignorance of the weaponry in the wider galaxy that could ultimately kill her, not a powerful Sith warrior trained in the arts of the dark side. It would be like being killed by some common thug with a rusty dagger back home. Embarrassing.

Kallian rose, moving carefully through the underground compound but seeing no one. Her senses told her that Mira was here somewhere along with others whose minds were preoccupied with motives far more sinister. She gripped her lightsaber, willing away the pain from her aching injuries as she made her way into a wide open area with a high ceiling, seats arrayed around the sunken field making it look like an arena like the one for Mabari races in Denerim. A single figure lay facedown in the dirt before her, a hairy beast naked except for two bandoliers wrapped over its shoulders and two wicked blades lying inches from its clawed hands. The creature was alive and sleeping fitfully, matted fur red with blood evidence of extensive injuries though curiously none seemed aimed at a vital area. Whoever had attacked this creature did not want it dead.

She heard a faint click behind her as she studied the massive beast and quickly whirled around, two bright blue eyes staring out at her from a gray, skull-like face, a blaster rifle leveled at her chest. She was briefly surprised, not at being ambushed but at the familiar appearance of the one pointing the weapon at her, the droid that looked so much like HK assessing her with cold, mechanical eyes. Before she could recover, others surrounded her, all looking exactly the same with the nondescript, grey armor, each with a blaster trained on her. "_Apparently, HK has a few more unwanted siblings_," she thought to herself, wishing slightly that the homicidal droid were at her side.

A strange voice suddenly filled the arena, garbled speech almost sounding like someone talking underwater. She looked up to the source and saw one of the most disgusting aliens she had ever seen, pinkish-orange skin covering an arrow-shaped head with tentacles instead of a mouth. She could see the cruelty in its black eyes though, knowing that this was a being that cared nothing about using the suffering of others for its own benefit. Glaring up at it, she spat, "Speak Basic, you sodding bastard".

One of the hunter droids spoke up after her outburst in an appraising tone, "Meaningless Translation: Visquis has demanded your surrender, Jedi. If you insist on resisting, you may be delivered to Goto slightly more damaged".

"And what does this so-called Goto want with me?" Kallian snapped.

The droid continued in a sarcastic tone, "Condescending Explanation: Goto does not want you at all but rather is far more interested in obtaining a Jedi, or several if possible".

A sharp word from the alien standing above her began what sounded, at least to her, like a tirade as some of the motionless droids craned their necks to look at him. "Your boss have a problem or something?" she remarked casually, preparing her body for a lunge forward.

The droid before her turned his eyes from the squid alien to her, something like laughter emerging in its mechanical voice as it stated, "Amusing explanation: The sadly mistaken organic plans to use you as a method to meet with Goto and terminate him. Unfortunately for the foolish organic, Goto has known of his treachery for some time".

He motioned to the alien as Kallian gazed up at him, the two bodyguards flanking the squid raising their blasters as it looked at them in confusion. They fired at the same time, bolts striking the squid's chest and head as the sound of the discharge reverberated through the high-ceilinged arena. The body slumped to the floor as one treacherous bodyguard put another charge into it for good measure. Kallian felt that this was a good a time as any to strike, her body surging forward as she activated her lightsaber. As she spun to deflect a blaster bolt from behind, letting the Force guide her movements, she was surprised that what greeted her was not the normal red beam of energy but expanding circles of light. The wave passed right by her saber and struck her in the chest, all feeling leaving her body as her senses went dead.

* * *

"Osik," Mira said to herself as Kallian fell, the victim of a stun bolt. She took a step forward before her thoughts caught up with her actions, the rational part of her mind screaming that there was no way she could take down a dozen battle droids with only a blaster pistol with a half charge. The Jedi had come for her though surprisingly, and even though her rescue attempt was not needed and a fairly spectacular failure at that, she had to do something. But that something was not going down there and dying in a daring but idiotic attempt at playing hero.

Moving to an elevator, she hesitated for a moment, but got on with a grimace. She would find the other Jedi and see if he could help. If he was truly a Jedi, there was no doubt he would. She never left a job half done, and if her quarry ended up apprehended by another hunter, it just made the game a little more interesting.

* * *

Lux could not feel Kallian's presence as they approached the battered door in the warehouse turned makeshift apartment complex, so apparently the caller was sticking to his word. The warehouse was occupied by an eclectic mix of dockworkers, smugglers, and the like, some not willing to pay for a better room as they waited for the next spice trawler to arrive while others were barely scraping by. A few Mandalorians were even present, their vibrant suits of Neo-Crusader armor looking out of place in the drab and rundown building. He could not help it to throw a furtive looks their way, wondering how such a proud race of warriors could stand to have fallen this far. "_Not that they didn't deserve it_," he thought coldly, a tinge of anger rising as he remembered the crimes they had committed on so many worlds.

His senses told him that no one stood behind the locked door where her kidnapper had directed them. Either he had left a message or there was a trap waiting for them behind an inch of durasteel and peeling paint. The Exile did not feel any danger emanating from the hidden room, and in fact he felt a certain sense of strange familiarity. "So this is where our friend has taken Kallian then?" Zevran spoke, his face relaxed but the underlying tension obvious even to those without the Force. He and the Handmaiden had met up with Zevran and Atton as they left the ship, the pair having found out little other than the Exchange was gunning for Jedi with a little more vigor than they expected. Kallian's companion betrayed nothing when he heard the news, but Lux knew that if anything had happened to the woman, he would surely be blamed.

"Well are we just going to stand out here and admire the scenery?" Atton joked, trying to lighten the atmosphere from the dour bleakness that had descended. Everyone pulled weapons, but Lux already knew they would not be necessary. With a snap hiss the lock was gone, molten metal replacing it even as the door swept by, pulled by an invisible hand. The party tensed but no one greeted them from the empty room, a few storage crates, scattered clothes, and a cot the only items decorating the small space.

"Either the one who contacted you is playing with us, or they left some message behind," Zevran spoke, stepping lightly as he entered the confined area.

Atton's eyes immediately fell on the comlink lying conspicuously on a storage crate next to a few used vials of stims and the empty wrappers of instant meals, "Recognize this?" he said, tossing the comlink to Lux. "Looks like the bastard is baiting us. This doesn't look like the kind of place that would house anyone important. Could she of really gotten caught by some nobody?"

Lux looked at the comlink with interest before checking the saved messages. A voice immediately filled the room, saying, "Your friend is at the Jekk'Jekk Tarr" before falling into static.

"Looks like we have our answer," he said carefully, something about the voice making him remember something, but he could not recall exactly what.

"Obviously a trap," Atton offered. "That place only caters to nonhumans. The atmosphere's poison to all of us".

"Been to this place a few times I take it?" Lux asked, wondering what kind of misadventure could have taken him there.

"I get around. For such a huge city, Nar Shaddaa's got a surprising lack of cantinas. Who knew?" he shrugged.

"When is it not it a trap?" Zevran broke in. "Part of the fun is walking into an ambush, no? Why waste time on easy battles?"

"Why are we speaking about this?" the Handmaiden cut in. "Everyone here knows that we are going after her, trap or not".

Zevran turned to her with a brilliant smile, "What kind of daring rescue would this be if the dashing heroes did not discuss their plan before rushing headlong into danger?"

"You can rush headlong into the place. Give my regards to the first bastard who blasts you," Atton remarked dryly.

"We're not going to get there any faster if we keep standing around here. Let's go," the Exile spoke, again searching for Kallian's presence in the Force. He was not so attuned to her presence that he could tell where she was, but he could feel strong emotions from the woman on occasion. Earlier he had felt a surge of pain, desperation, and anger radiating from her, but now her presence had faded completely.

They arrived at the cantina in question a few minutes later, the signs of a struggle apparent from the smashed in doorframe. Several people stood outside the establishment, but none seemed to be in a hurry to enter. Seeing a Twi'lek with several bloody cuts on his face and neck who was staring into the cantina warily, Lux casually approached him and asked, "Things get a little more out of hand than usual?"

The Twi'lek looked at him suspiciously with beady, bloodshot eyes, his tongue licking jagged teeth. "Some crazy Jedi forced her way in and practically killed half the people inside. Schutta killed my brother and almost got me too".

"What did she want with the lot of you? Did she come back out, or is she still in there?" Lux asked rapidly.

"What's it to you, human?" the bleeding man sneered. "I got out of there as soon as she was gone. I wanted no part of whatever trouble she was stirring up. If I had to guess, she was probably gunning for Visquis. Word is the Exchange has a massive bounty on the head of every Jedi".

A moment of confusion came over Lux as he tried to reconcile Kallian's apparent kidnapping with her attack on one of the Exchange's hideouts. "When did the Jedi attack?" he asked.

The alien looked at him even more suspiciously but answered anyway in a cautious voice, "Half an hour maybe? Do you think I was keeping track or something?"

If that was true, the one who contacted them earlier had not captured Kallian. But then what was the point of threatening them at all? If it was a ploy from the Exchange to have them walk into a trap, Visquis had already extended them an invitation to this exact cantina, making such a strategy redundant. "_There must have been another reason_," he thought, his senses suddenly alerting him to someone watching him intently. He turned to the source, images of Kallian present in the mind of the stranger, his lightsaber activating as he swiftly raised the humming blade to her throat.

A few gasps were uttered from the crowd as the Exile looked into a pair of brown eyes and a shock of red hair, a look of fear quickly passing into a wary glare. The Twi'lek swore in his own language beside him, backing away quickly as Atton and the others drew their blasters, making sure that no one in the crowd got any ideas. The girl with the lightsaber at her neck kept her hands far from the blaster at her hip, a forced sneer on her face obviously meant to make her look tough and unconcerned. "Are all you Jedi so jumpy? I swear you can't even approach one of you without practically getting your head taken off," she stated in a petulant tone.

"I know you know about Kallian. Less sass, more explaining," he said quickly, making sure she knew how serious he was.

"Look, I know where your friend is. She was captured by Goto's thugs. If you want her back, you better stop threatening me and move your shebs," she said with a sigh as she crossed her arms over her barely covered chest.

"Were you part of Goto's scheme?" Lux asked dangerously.

"No, I was hired to protect you. I sent that message so you wouldn't go after Visquis. Kallian was supposed to be back at my apartment...I didn't expect her to come after me," she admitted.

"Sounds like a rather farfetched tale," Zevran said calculatingly. "What kind of employer would pay to protect someone with such a price on their head?"

"Someone with a vested interest in keeping you safe?" she asked sarcastically. "Can't you just read my mind and see if I'm telling the truth. Jedi can do that right?"

Lux studied her carefully, knowing that what she spoke was the truth. "I believe you," he said finally, "but that doesn't mean I trust you, Mandalorian".

"I should have guessed," the Handmaiden snapped. "Only one of their savage kind would sell their abilities to the highest bidder. I suppose honor is worth only so much when credits are involved".

"Yeah, whatever, I'm a greedy savage who preys on the weak for fun. Could we forget the insults for now and go after your friend?" she said with a shake of her head.

Both Zevran and Atton were looking at the woman intently, Zevran obviously interested in meeting a member of the warrior race so many stories had been told about. If Lux had to guess, he thought there was a slight amount of disappointment in his gaze. Atton betrayed nothing through the Force, the strange barrier that cut him off from Lux's probe as strong as ever, but there was no mistaking the disgust that was evident in his eyes. Most soldiers who fought in the wars on the side of the Republic would probably have a similar reaction. "And how do you suppose we find her? She could be on her way to who knows where now," the Exile asked.

"Goto has been intercepting all of Vogga the Hutt's cargo ships. If we can steal the codes for one of his ship's transponders, Goto will come to us. Hopefully your friend will be on board," she explained quickly.

"You seem quick to want to help us. This a job with a contingent payment?" Lux added in a pointed insult.

"I pay my debts, Jedi. Whether you want my help or not...I'm coming with you," she resolved, hard eyes daring him to dispute her words.

"Well where do we go to get the codes for Vogga's freighter?" he asked, already knowing her answer.

"Good question. I guess I was relying on your Jedi intuition for that part of the plan," she admitted.

"Fierfek," he said under his breath.

* * *

Kallian's eyes fluttered open, and all she saw was a grated ceiling, exposed pipes and circuitry looking like multicolored worms. She felt unbelievingly sore and her nerves felt like they were on fire, that energy attack obviously still affecting her system to some degree. She was not shackled surprisingly, her captors either grossly negligent or unconcerned about her escaping. It did not matter anyway, as restraints would do little good against the power of the Force.

She rose from the hard, metal cot, wincing as she felt broken bones shift in her chest. Once again she wished she had listened when Revan had droned on about healing trances, the idea that she would sleep for days at a time to recover from injuries seemingly useless when she could rely on magic to heal any wound. She walked to the cell door and practically jumped back in fright as it slid by with the sound of pressurized air. If someone had meant to keep her imprisoned, they were failing at that task rather badly.

Kallian looked around, finding herself in a circular room with gaping windows looking out into a starry expanse. She saw the glittering surface of Nar Shaddaa far below, pinpricks of light darting to and from the smuggler's moon. Three round droids floated near the window, nasty looking instruments and pointed needles extending from their black shells, each with a single opaque eye that reflected everything n front of them like a mirror. The droids' eyes followed her as she approached, but they made no move that could be interpreted as hostile.

A flickering image suddenly appeared in front of the middle droid, a bluish projection of a man distorted by static and shifts in the picture. "Ah, I see my efforts have finally paid off," the image said in a strange voice, sounding stilted and vaguely mechanical. "Though I did imagine that you would be taller, Jedi".

"Goto I presume," she observed, crossing her arms and looking at the ghostly figure with a murderous look. "Sorry to disappoint".

"Indeed. I apologize we could not meet personally. I feared that you might be less than accommodating, and that could negatively affect any potential arrangement between the two of us," the crimelord added smoothly, his face expressionless.

"Why in the Force's name would I discuss anything with some sodding thug who kidnapped me? You must be insane if you thought attacking me was a way to get on my good side," she spat, glaring at the image rife with static.

"I apologize for the manner in which my subordinates went about bringing you to me. Time is of the essence, and I doubted I would have much success with a more straightforward invitation," he continued. "I find myself in need of the services of a Jedi, and I hope that we can come to an agreement that will benefit the both of us".

"I'm listening," she said glibly as the ship suddenly trembled, the roar of a far off explosion interrupting the soft hum of the craft's systems.

"It appears that we have uninvited guests," Goto said without emotion. "Unfortunate, but I am not without defenses. As I was saying, I have need of your services, Jedi. The Republic is faltering without leadership, its fleet huddled in the Core while the Sith roam the Rim with impunity. I intend to rebuild the Republic, and to do this, I will need Jedi to restore stability and liquidate hostile forces anathema to that goal".

"Wait, you're working with the Republic? Everyone I've talked to says you're some bigwig in the Exchange, a smuggler and a gangster," she said sharply, narrowing her eyes.

"I am not working with the Republic, not directly anyway. You could say...that I am something like an independent contractor," he conceded. "As for the Exchange, a criminal organization of such power and reach is ideal for performing my primary task. I have the contacts, resources, and information to ensure that my objectives are met".

"So you allow your underlings to bully and harass the weak and innocent while you claim to be trying to bring peace back to the Republic? That makes no sense," she concluded, anger coloring her voice.

"The ends justify the means. A few casualties are inevitable in the pursuit of a greater goal. Everything that I have done is calculated to ensure the survival of the Republic. The suffering of a few is inconsequential when compared to the greater good I serve," Goto explained, his voice cold and emotionless.

"Look, I don't think I'm the best person to be discussing this with," Kallian admitted carefully, not sure how the man would react. "I was born outside the Republic, and I don't really know a whole lot about its problems. You'd be better off talking to Lux about this".

"Yes, I hoped to speak to the Jedi Exile. His conduct in the war showed that he is quite comfortable in doing what must be done," he spoke, something about those words making Kallian shiver. "I still may have the opportunity, but I believe that the very same has just deactivated this yacht's cloaking device. My enemies will be sure to take advantage of this opportunity. Sadly, we must cut this discussion far shorter than I would have hoped. Until we meet again, Jedi".

The blue image faded from view, and the blast door behind Kallian screeched open, revealing a flustered looking Lux armed with a blue lightsaber. From the angle, it looked like he was preparing to cut through the door when it suddenly opened. She walked over to him, surprised when he grabbed he arm and started pulling her along like a ragdoll. "Remind me never to let you go off on your own again," he said in a harried voice.

"Easy!" she winced, "I'm injured if you haven't noticed!"

"Princess," he sighed, "You'll be in worse shape if we don't get the hell out of here right now. I don't know about you, but I have no interest in sucking vacuum".

Kallian trembled at the implication, remembering what it felt like to be suffocating. She noticed piles of torn-apart droids as they passed through the blaster-scarred corridors, the tell tale sign of lightsaber damage evident on most of them. "I take it you've been busy then," she observed.

"Goto's a paranoid bastard. I take it he's not present?" he asked.

Kallian shrugged, "An image of him talked to me. He said that he wants Jedi to help restore the Republic".

"Putting a bounty on the head of every Jedi is a pretty roundabout way of asking for help," Lux joked as they came within sight of the Ebon Hawk.

"There was something strange about him for sure," she answered darkly. "He didn't seem to want to be enemies though".

"Yeah but you know the saying: with friends like that..." he trailed off. "Not that we need any more enemies, mind you...not with the Sith hunting us".

They reached the door just as the first salvo of turbolaser fire tore through Goto's yacht, the hatch sealing behind them as the Ebon Hawk detached from the crippled ship. Kallian got to one of the turrets, just in case any of the attackers got any ideas about following their escaping ship, but none did. She watched as the elegant form of Goto's ship silently exploded, pieces of the hull flying in all directions as the cold grip of space claimed the remnants of the vessel. As the bright flare of the blast faded, the blackness of the void shrouded the wreck, only the cold face of Nar Shaddaa casting light on Kallian's grim visage.

* * *

**A/N: Almost done with Nar Shaddaa after what seems like forever. Sorry the chapter is so long; it thought about splitting up, but after cutting some things out, I decided to leave it as is. Thanks to all who read and reviewed. MrEmperor, Kallian tries to be a good person but often fails. I like to imagine that years of fighting Ferelden's wars and dealing with enemies both internal and external have left her more at risk from the darkness inside, and she often struggles with it. Brianna is a more naive character than Kallian, and she does not understand that she is often cruel when trying to place a black and white worldview on a gray world. Next is Dxun, so Kallian will get to learn a bit more about Revan and Lux's enemies. Viper764, Lux is supposed to be kind of a goody goody, especially after Malachor, but sometimes his more ruthless side is exposed. He is trying to teach Kallian, but she is not exactly the most willing student. I thought Zevran was kind of fading into the background a bit, so I tried to write a little more about him in the last chapter. Gogolu, I'm glad you like the sequel. I'm trying to portray both the Dragon Age world and the KOTOR world without one taking precedence over the other, so hopefully I can maintain that balance.**


	9. Savior, Conqueror, Hero, Villain

"Zez-Kai Ell, never expected to see you again. Can't say I'm glad to though," Lux stated as he looked over the Jedi Master. The man looked older and more careworn, but considering that the majority of the Jedi Order had been wiped out after Revan's disappearance, he had got off easy.

"When I first sensed your presence on this dark moon, I thought you had finally tracked me down to kill me. It seems I was mistaken. Maybe you have not taken Revan's path and given yourself to the cause of revenge," the Master spoke.

"I never wished for revenge. You were blind just as you were during my trial and before that when you refused to aid the Republic. It is always the same with the Council...they come to a conclusion and can never see past preconceptions, even when the truth is staring you all in the face," he spat, trying to keep his anger under control. "And because of that you nearly got some of my friends killed!"

"We are not omniscient, Lux. The Force cannot make everything clear," he explained.

"Never speak that name to me...call me what I am, and don't blame the Force for your own shortcomings. You failed the Republic when the Mandalorians marched unopposed, you failed your charges in the Order when you ran rather than stand up to the Sith, and you failed me that day at the Temple," he said coldly. "Someone like you never deserved to watch over the Order. That you could sit here in this disgusting hole and let these people suffer around you without even trying to help them...the honor of being a Jedi is wasted on you".

"Still so much anger in you. You would be wise to learn to control it lest you take Revan's path and fall assuredly as she did," the old man intoned.

"My anger at you is well-deserved, I think. I know better than you the danger the dark side poses; I have seen it first hand," Lux said dismissively, scoffing at the Master's words.

"Do you indeed?" Zez-Kai Ell questioned. "What of the young one who travels with you? The Force burns within her brighter than the fieriest star, but it is a cold flame, shrouded by darkness. A stray you picked up, perhaps? If so, you would do well to temper the hatred within her, or you will not be the only one burned when she loses herself".

"You speak of Revan's apprentice, Kallian Tabris. What she is and how I may go about teaching her is none of your concern. You abdicated any responsibility you once had to the Jedi when you hid on this Force-forsaken rock," he stated in a frigid tone, remembering how the Masters treated anyone who even had the slightest amount of darkness within.

"So Revan took an apprentice...I suppose it is the nature of the Sith and Jedi to pass on what they have learned. Some abilities though, are better left buried in the past. For your sake and hers, I hope you continue to follow the path of the light...even though a Jedi you may not be" the Master sighed.

"Adhering to the light isn't a path you walk, it's a battle you fight every single day. Just a word to the supposedly wise," he snarked, earning a withering look in return.

* * *

Kallian was getting impatient as she tapped her boot on the cracked and dirty ground. Lux had assured them that he would only need to speak to this Jedi Master for a minute, but that minute had gone on for a good half hour. She looked over the others, Zevran, the Echani, and Mira, all fidgeting or engrossed in mundane tasks as with Mira and her constant unloading and reloading of her blaster. There was not that much time to catch up as the Ebon Hawk sped toward the surface as she was confined to the medical room where her injuries were assessed.

"So bounty hunter, you hanging around for a reason? I guess you haven't been paid yet given how long Lux is taking," Kallian sneered, taking out her anger on the nearest convenient target.

"Worried you might have to chase after me again if I get into trouble?" Mira smirked, holstering her blaster.

"Yeah, because that worked out so well," she answered in a biting tone. "Next time I attempt to rescue someone, I'll have to remember that the point is not to need rescued yourself".

"Good advice for anyone," Zevran remarked. "Of course being captured can often present one with...unexpected opportunities, no?"

"Only when the person who captures you is dumb enough to take pity on the poor sod," she sighed. "Sometimes even I'm amazed at how much of an idiot I can be".

"Knowing oneself is the first step to enlightenment," the Handmaiden quipped, but surprisingly, her words seemed more like a friendly jest than a biting insult.

"All this vaunted Jedi wisdom seems to be employed more to mock than to teach. Revan was the same way...it must be a joy to be around you all," she replied sweetly.

"Sometimes wounded pride is the best teacher, as I know too well. But because you went off on your own, we found the missing Jedi, so the Force led us to our destination in the end. So you did not fail entirely," the Handmaiden concluded, the smirk not leaving her face.

"Enough of this, we're getting sidetracked again. Mira...what are you doing here?" Kallian asked, her eyes narrowing.

"Well you know that Nar Shaddaa's not exactly the upper levels of Coruscant...or the lower levels really," she trailed off.

"You must be joking. Surely this world must compare with the Golden City itself, what with all the willing and exotic women, plentiful wine or what have you...all we need is song," Zevran laughed.

Mira shot him a look but simply shook her head, "I guess with a trillion people here, odds are someone would like this place".

"Don't mind him, he grew up in Antiva. Criminal gangs, plentiful brothels, crowded conditions...it's like being home again," she shrugged.

"Huh, never heard of it, and Mandalorians have pretty much gone everywhere," Mira said before turning to Kallian. "I thought I might come with you. There's nothing here tying me down, and since I don't have a ship, I wanted to catch a ride".

"You want to come with us. Why?" Kallian asked, a little puzzled about her reasons.

"I just told you. This moon is like a black hole sucking all the life out of you. Mandalorians are nomads anyway...don't like staying in one place for too long," the bounty hunter explained.

"Why should we let you come with us? You're like every other Mandalorian who survived the wars, a hired gun who kills people for money. Disgusting," the Echani woman snapped. "Like Lux would ever allow you to come on our ship".

"What does Lux have to do with it?" Kallian cut in. "The Ebon Hawk is _my_ ship, so he doesn't have any say who goes on her".

Zevran shot her a dubious look, which the Handmaiden quickly picked up on, "Your ship, so you can pilot it and everything? Color me amazed".

"Well...since it's technically Revan's ship, and since I am something like her apprentice, ownership falls to me. So yeah, she's my ship," she concluded.

"So I guess we'll be seeing a lot of each other then," Mira said, grinning at an irritated Handmaiden.

Just then, Lux emerged from Mira's old apartment, his face bearing a thoughtful expression. "Zez-Kai Ell will be waiting for us on Dantooine once we've found the others Masters. Once we've gathered together, we can work out trying to rebuild the Order and deal with our pesky Sith problem".

"So where to next?" Kallian asked, not interested in what the old man had to say to the Exile.

"Onderon, I think. That's where Kavar was last seen," he answered before noticing Mira following after them. "So the Mandalorian's tagging along with us, huh? Might be useful, that system's always been teeming with their kind".

"I thought the Republic pretty much torched the entire moon to get to our forces on Dxun. I wouldn't expect that you'd find any stragglers hanging around, even Mandalore's pretty barren at the moment, or so I've heard," Mira said.

"Let's just say that if you had been there, you probably wouldn't be following us right now. Dxun was probably the worst battle of the war if you leave out Malachor. If you didn't get killed in combat, the beasts in the jungle would take care of that, and if you were really lucky, you might have lived long enough to die of some crazy disease. We had already lost about two-dozen divisions when Revan decided to burn the hellhole". Lux said, a shadow falling over his features.

"I was just a kid during the majority of the war. I came of age a year before Malachor, but Mandalore knew it was a lost cause by then and kept the younger generation out of it, so I never really saw any significant combat. My whole family died in the final battle, so I ended up with the rest of the refugees from the Outer Rim here," she said nonchalantly.

Lux looked deeply uncomfortable, but Mira was not fazed in the slightest. "I'm sorry about your family, but your people needed to be stopped," he said as sympathetically as he could muster.

"Maybe. There's no use dwelling on it now anyway. They were probably thrilled to be a part of a battle that will be remembered for centuries to come...it's what any Mandalorian would have wanted," she continued, surprising the group expecting a rant against the Jedi.

"I know you told me before that you didn't have anything against the Jedi for how it all played out, but you can't just brush it off and say that's how they would have wanted to go," Kallian insisted.

"Of course I was angry when it happened! Wouldn't you be if you woke up one day and found out you were alone?" she snapped. "But I got over it...you can't survive on Nar Shaddaa if all you do is dwell on how bad of hand fate has dealt you. This wasn't the first time I lost everything, you know. When the Mandalorians were kicking the osik out of the Outer Rim, they sacked my homeworld and took me as a slave. When you got a bad hand in Pazaak, it just means you have to play a little harder".

Lux nodded knowingly, aware of the cruel practices of the Mandalorians used to build their army, but Kallian was aghast. "You were their slave and yet you call them family? Are you stupid or brainwashed?"

She seemed a little offended at the cutting remark but also a tad bemused as someone wise would be when humoring an ignorant speaking about something they knew nothing about. "You don't know us. You're trying to apply your aruettise values to our culture. We're strong because we take the useful things we find on the planets we take, weapons, technology, tactics, even people and integrate them into our culture. I was strong enough to join a clan, and they welcomed me as a daughter. Family is more than bloodline...I wouldn't expect you to understand".

"And what do they do to the slaves who don't want to join up?" Kallian asked, not buying anything the woman was saying.

"I don't know...living shields?" she shrugged. "Look, I'm not defending some of the worst things they did during the war, but the idea you Republic types have of us as barbarians or something is bantha poodoo".

"And what would they have done if they knew you were Force sensitive?" Lux asked carefully, surprising the rest of the group.

"Did that Jedi mess with your head or something?" Mira scoffed. "If I could use the Force, I wouldn't be slumming it on Nar Shaddaa. I could've tricked some poor bastard out of ship and hightailed it out of here".

"The Master didn't ask you to watch over us because he heard gushing tales of your amazing skill...he hired you because of your latent Force sensitivity. Didn't it ever feel strange that somehow you just knew where to find your bounties? How else would a kid survive on this moon all alone without the Force guiding her?" Lux continued as Mira frowned.

"So now you're insulting me? I'm no _kid_, old man, and I certainly don't need any higher power watching over me to keep me alive," she snapped.

"I didn't mean it as an insult," he grimaced. "And I'm not doubting your proficiency at...whatever it is you do. Your employer also told me that you have a rather quirky way of going about collecting bounties: you refuse to kill. Could one without the Force even hope to fulfill that vow? I think it would be difficult to say the least".

"Yeah because Jedi are excellent at defeating their enemies without killing them; I guess Malachor was just the exception. A good bounty hunter doesn't need to kill her targets to bring them in plus bounty heads are worth more alive anyway," Mira said smartly.

Lux was not deterred, a smart comment halfway out of his mouth before Kallian cut him off, "She obviously doesn't want to answer your question. When will you Jedi learn that continually harping on something is not a good way to get a person to open up? It's annoying".

"We can talk later, I suppose," he shrugged, a self-satisfied grin plastered on his face.

As he walked ahead to speak with the Handmaiden, Mira came to Kallian's side, her face thoughtful and a little intrigued. "You have the Force...is he joking?" she asked furtively, trying not to sound too interested.

Kallian looked at her closely, reaching out with the Force to touch her, the energy within her connecting with a dormant power within the Mandalorian woman. "There is power within you, I think. All life is like a vast, interconnected web of light when you look at it through the Force, but those whom the Force is strong in shine...more brightly you could say. Lux and the Handmaiden are like that, and when I look a you, I can see the glimmer of power," she said carefully.

She snorted, "Only a glimmer? You say you're not a Jedi, but it's still all metaphors and cryptic words with you".

"I can't tell for sure. It's not something you can just look for and know when you see it," she said angrily. "Why do you care anyway? If we find any Mandalorians where we're headed next, aren't you going to go back to them?"

Mira thought about the question for a moment before answering, "I don't think a life spent fighting other people's battles for them is the life for me. I don't really know what I want to do; I just want off this world".

"We got that in common at least," she nodded as the group came within sight of the Ebon Hawk. Immediately, a feeling of wrongness passed over Kallian, like ice water was being dumped over her body. She looked to Lux, and from the look on his face, he obviously felt the darkness emanating from the ship. She stretched out with her feelings, trying to discern the source of darkness, but it seemed shrouded, as if an even greater power was shielding it from view. She heard screaming in the back of her mind, countless voices crying out inaudible words of despair. She flinched away as the voices grew louder, the corruption seeming to reach out to meet her touch.

"From that look, I take it that trouble has found us once again," Zevran commented as Kallian reached for her lightsaber.

Lux was quicker, activating his blue blade and moving to the fore of the group. "Nothing to worry about, just your common, everyday Sith assassin. I'll just have a word with him, and you all can stay out here until we're finished".

She watched as he darted into the hold, her mouth curling into a disdainful frown. "Yeah, that's not going to happen," she said to herself, igniting her bronze lightsaber and following after him.

Kallian could feel the darkness surrounding her, but it was almost as if it was not present, the source far away. Fear and despair felt far closer, but those were still strong emotions that the dark side could feed off of. Her danger sense awakening to a threat from behind, she spun, brandishing her saber to the unseen enemy.

Nothing greeted her but an empty corridor, the milky lights flickering, dark shadows moving like living nightmares. She saw no one, not even those that had been left on the ship, but she could still feel the living Force from them so the Sith had not finished with them yet. The silence of the vessel was creepy, not even the hum of machines taking away from the unbearable quiet. She was surprised that no attack came, her senses straining to uncover the intruder but only finding that vague sense of dread that seemed to permeate the inside of the ship.

The sound of lightsabers clashing snapped her out of these ruminations, the electric crackle echoing throughout the Ebon Hawk's low ceilings. She broke into a run, dashing toward the sounds of battle, arriving just before it ended. Lux was pushing back a red and black robed figure, his face a mask of determination as he locked his saber against that of his opponent. The Sith's arms were shaking, Lux's strength too much for the intruder to handle even as he continued to inexorably push both blades into the Sith's chest.

The Sith, a woman from what Kallian could sense from her, did not feel like the evil warriors dreadful stories had been told of. She was neither cold and ruthless like Revan, nor a maelstrom of fury and insanity as was the Sith who took her arm. The woman felt pitiful in a way, sorrowful and afraid, the darkness within her more akin to someone contemplating suicide than a powerful agent of destruction.

Kallian knew the intruder had sensed her presence, but she made no move to defend herself as she raised her saber to run the Sith through. Lux caught her gaze in that moment, his eyes sending a silent message to stop, the power in those brown orbs making her lower her weapon even before she realized what she was doing.

Lux wasted no time after that, allowing the Sith to push his blade away with a feeble strike even as he shifted his grip on that strange, curved lightsaber. With hardly any movement, he sent the humming, blue blade through the hilt of his opponent's lightsaber, sparks exploding from the severed weapon as she clutched her burned hand in pain. She fell to her knees before him, his saber tracking her fall, the point inches from her chest. She kneeled at his feet, the tension in her body revealing that she expected him to finish her immediately.

When the blow did not come, her head rose a fraction of an inch, a silky voice saying, "My lightsaber...you have destroyed it. I yield...master. It is as I sensed through the Force...you are far stronger than I".

The Handmaiden came rushing in seconds after her short speech, force pike in hand and her narrowed eyes fixed on the bowing figure before them. Kallian was a little taken aback by her surrender, the Sith almost inviting death by prostrating herself before them. Kallian roughly pulled her head back, removing the hood that hid her features, and instead of the yellow eyes she expected to see, blackened sockets outlined by jagged cracks in her pale skin looked up at her. The sight of the Sith made her shiver in revulsion, but Lux and the Handmaiden seemed more surprised than repulsed.

"A Miraluka? I never thought I would see one of your kind serving the dark side," the silver-eyed woman observed coldly.

"Please...kill me. I have failed in my task, and my life is forfeit," the woman spoke, sad resignation in every word. Her face was emotionless, but Kallian could feel the despair inside her, the desire for a release from torment. The scars on her body were nothing compared to the pain Kallian felt within.

"What kind of Sith begs for death? I thought a true Sith would fight till the end, stabbing their saber through the one who struck the mortal blow with their last breath, or am I wrong?" Lux asked wryly.

"You are wrong...a true Sith never dies," she spoke in a pained voice. "I am but a servant...a tool for my master to wield and cast aside. He is the embodiment of the dark side, greater than any Sith Lord who has come before. I could not bring you to him, so I am useless to my master now...without purpose. End it".

Kallian sneered at the pathetic woman as she spat, "Give her what she wants. She's already given up on life...killing her would be a mercy".

Lux responded in kind with a sharp look in her direction, resolving to have a little talk about the dangers of the dark side with her later. "I won't kill a defenseless opponent. You can feel how damaged she is inside...she can still be saved".

"No!" the Handmaiden cried, her eyes filled with disgust as she looked upon the Sith woman. "She has been corrupted by the dark side! Letting her live would be inviting a snake into our midst, ready to strike when we least expect. I understand that you believe everyone deserves a second chance..." she trailed off, shooting a knowing look at Kallian, "but sparing this woman, an avowed enemy of the Jedi, would be beyond foolish. If you let her go, she will just come after us again!"

"Listen to the Echani," Kallian agreed. "I know what it's like to fall into darkness, and the only way you come out is if you are strong enough to be saved. This woman is weak. Listen to her, she doesn't even want to be saved!"

Lux glared at the both of them, his voice filled with anger and disappointment as he retorted, "I'm surprised at the both of you. Handmaiden, you claim to support the Jedi and adhere to the Code, but you condemn anyone with even a hint of the dark side in them. I thought no one was beyond redemption, and what about how no one deserves execution, no matter what their crimes? It's not up to a Jedi to decide whether a person _deserves_ to live or not. Considering a living being to be worthless so that killing them means nothing is a sure path to the dark side".

The Handmaiden looked stricken, her expression embarrassed and downcast as Lux turned to the smirking elf beside her. "And you Kallian, what if whoever redeemed you had considered you not worth saving? It's easy to dismiss others and tell ourselves that we are better, stronger, more deserving, but what if your savior had thought like you? See yourself in others, and maybe you won't be as quick to call them weak".

Kallian rolled her eyes, looking utterly unfazed by the criticism, but there was a twinge of doubt hidden beneath her outward indifference. She had fallen hard in the past, and it had taken Revan practically beating her to death before she realized how wrong she was. "Fine, do what you want. Just don't come crying to me when the Sith bitch stabs you in the back," she snapped as she walked away.

HK-47 was standing vigilant in the center of the main hold as usual with Mira facing away from him, a look of annoyance on her face. As she walked in, the bounty hunter called out, "If you don't do something about your droid, I'm going to have him melted down for scrap!"

"HK's not so bad...you just have to get used to him," she smiled, turning to the red-eyed machine.

"Or I could put a few blaster bolts in his head and shut him up for good. All that touchy-feely fawning is creepy, you know?" she continued, shooting the droid a dirty look.

Kallian was confused by the comment as HK was generally more known for murdering random people than fawning over them, but before she could contradict the woman, HK-47 interrupted. "Statement: Kallian! My servomotors were going haywire with worry over your safety. I am so glad that you have made it back to us in one piece!"

His voice sounded wrong, soft and comforting rather than arrogant and refined. She looked at him suspiciously before saying slowly, "HK, did something happen while I was away? Don't you want to eviscerate me or something?"

"Objection: How could you ever believe this peace-loving droid would ever harm a poor, defenseless meatbag! Such a horror would be unthinkable!" the droid responded swiftly, his voice filled with shock and hurt.

Kallian gaped at the droid before turning back to where Lux was still tending to the Sith intruder and snarling, "What did you bastards do to HK! I'll sodding kill you for this!"

"Query: Would it be possible to ascertain the problem with my personality chip that may be leading to your distress without resorting to physical assault and or murder?" HK said soothingly.

Kallian drew back from the droid, her expression horrified. "Don't come near me you...you imposter!"

"What seems to be the problem here?" Lux said dryly, now carrying the apparently unconscious Sith with the Handmaiden trailing behind. "Oh. I see you've discovered the improvements Bao-Dur made to your...friend".

"Improvements! You've killed him! This isn't HK...this is, I don't know what in the Force this thing is!" she yelled.

"Technically you can't kill a droid," Lux informed her, earning a murderous look in return. He backed off, holding up a hand in mock surrender before continuing, "Alright, I'll get Bao-Dur to fix him. He'll be good as new in no time".

"He better be, or I will show you the true power of the dark side," she said menacingly, the others wondering if she was joking or not.

* * *

Alistair could already hear the raised voices as they walked toward the great hall, and he inwardly cringed. It was difficult dealing with the nobles when Ferelden was not in imminent danger of being overrun by the armies of a faith it allegedly adhered to, but now he could hardly imagine how ugly the meeting would become. Elissa seemed to notice the tension within him as she smiled sheepishly and whispered, "Just pretend that everyone in the council is a darkspawn, and then maybe they will not be as frightening".

A smile tugged at the corners of Alistair's mouth as he fought to maintain his grim expression, but he quickly retorted, "Darkspawn are fairly obvious about their intent to kill you, but you never know with these sods. You might be right though. Have you seen Bryland's daughter? If there isn't a little darkspawn in that family, I don't know what to tell you".

"Might not want to mention that particular observation in the meeting," Elissa cautioned, grinning widely.

"I know how to turn on the charm when the situation calls for it," he said dismissively.

"With that kind of charm, I do not think the poor girl is the only one with a darkspawn ancestor," Leliana observed airily.

"Comes with being a Warden, I suppose," he shrugged.

"You know," Leliana began, "those in power actually fighting over their differences is refreshing in a way. In Orlais, raised voices are unseemly and a subtle insult is esteemed much higher than passionate rhetoric".

"I always thought Orlesians just agreed with what their enemies said and then sent assassins to silence them permanently," Elissa said darkly.

"That is true, but killing your opponent will never win you as much respect as making them look foolish," the Seeker responded, either unaware or purposely ignoring the sarcasm in the noblewoman's words. "I was involved in such things in my wilder days. There is a certain thrill to it, you know, getting close to your enemy so that you have him in the palm of your hand, never knowing that his life is to be ended at your whim".

Alistair and Elissa both stared at her, as Leliana seemed oblivious to their growing reservations about her. Alistair simply shook his head as he reached for the imposing, wooden doors, muttering, "Still crazy...not to mention terrifying".

As the carved doors opened, the sound of angry words rose from a faint echo to a bellow that filled the great hall. "What did your sister fight for Eamon if you are content to throw it away on the bastard son of a king who would have never even seen the throne if his betters had not perished defending this country?" Arl Wulff spat just as they entered the room, all eyes turning to them.

Apparently Eamon had managed to convince a good number of Ferelden's remaining nobles to journey to the capital with Teyrn Cousland, Arl Wulff, Bryland, Teagan, and a smattering of Banns both loyal and not. Conspicuously absent was Shianni, not that Alistair was particularly surprised that she had not been invited. Rather than look embarrassed at being caught insulting him, Arl Wulff held his gaze, a look of disdain apparent for all to see. Others seemed to share his disapproval, but they were less obvious about it, looking away and whispering to their fellows.

"Gallagher...we did not come here to exchange insults," Arl Bryland spoke carefully, flashing a look of warning at his fellow noble. "We came here to ensure that this country survives the coming days, and we will not accomplish that by sowing discord between us".

Arl Wulff glared at him but eventually nodded and sighed in assent, "Forgive me, Your Majesty. Things have been difficult as of late, and I have found it harder to keep my temper".

Elissa looked ready to cut the man's throat, but Alistair, used to the casual insults about his birth, intelligence, and leadership among other things, took the comment in stride. "We are all under a great deal of pressure, Arl Wulff. I understand".

He looked to the others in the room and recognized the Revered Mother, the scowling old woman flanked by a pair of faceless templars and another older woman wearing intricate red robes identifying her as a mage. She looked familiar, so he wracked his brain until a long-forgotten name emerged, his frown deepening as he knew she would have nothing good to say about him. "Wynne...I never expected to see you again," he said guardedly, wondering why she was here.

"Nor I, you," she responded in a tone like a disappointed parent. "I never expected the Grey Warden I followed through the tower would even defeat the blight...let alone become king. You have done well for yourself despite _her _influence, I see".

"And what are you here for? Don't tell me the Circle has become another abomination-filled deathtrap," he joked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Senior Enchanter Wynne is here at the behest of the Chantry as one of the few who have seen the apostate known as Revan first hand. As for abominations, I believe the royal palace is more of a concern than the Circle...for the moment," the Revered Mother interrupted.

"Which is exactly why I have taken the liberty of calling this meeting, Alistair. The Revered Mother has no desire for hordes of chevaliers to fall upon our nation claiming to be serving the Chantry and enforcing the will of the Maker," Eamon explained in a tired voice, his face looking haggard. "But neither can Her Reverence simply overlook the presence of a known criminal and enemy of the Chantry being sheltered by the crown".

"Stop coddling the boy, Eamon. There is more at stake here than his affection for these maleficarum," Wulff interjected angrily.

"Gallagher, please...the importance of unity at the moment is too high..." Eamon cautioned before being cut off.

"To the void with your unity! The people do not care about appearances, they care that this country is being ably ruled, and most of us would agree that it is not!" he bellowed as many nobles nodded in assent. "This is not Orlais! The king is not an emperor who can demand our respect and continued support. The king receives his power from the nobles and the freeholders through consent, not through some idiotic notion of Maker given right!"

"You speak treason, Arl Wulff!" Elissa snarled. "It is only through the king's heroism that you still have an Arling to rule at all! You should be grateful, but instead you serve as the stooge for the traitors in the south!"

"What is left of my lands but blighted fields that will never produce crops ever again, burned out villages home to only bones and restful spirits, and that was before the Orlesians came to raze it for a second time!" he sneered. "Say what you will about Loghain...at least he loved this country to the end. We were ignored after the blight so that Denerim could be rebuilt, a city with no one left to live in it but a few elves!"

The southern Bannorn was in revolt...of course nothing could be done for the West Hills! Perhaps you should have remembered your duty to this nation and not made your bed with the Orlesians..." Elissa spat before Alistair placed a hand on her shoulder to quiet her down.

She glared at him but nodded as he began to speak, "Arl Wulff, you are right to be angry at how you and your kinsmen were treated after the blight ended. I failed to take adequate measures to provide relief in the chaos that followed, and for that I am sorry".

The man narrowed his eyes but nodded, saying in a gravelly tone, "We no more wanted the Orlesians invading our lands than a tyrant of a king ignoring our plight. Call a Landsmeet, and there we can discuss the ongoing problems still with us from the blight".

"A Landsmeet, is that really necessary?" Teagan asked. "Even if one is called, I doubt many of us even will make the effort to come. Many Banns have made their holdings into personal fiefdoms either with the support of the Orlesians or through neglect".

"The food shortage and the suffering of our people are not the only threats this nation faces," Bann Alfstanna interjected carefully. "The Revered Mother's concerns and other political issues need to be discussed more thoroughly".

"Even if the problem with this Revan is resolved right now, the Orlesians may still take the opportunity to launch another attack even without the backing of the Divine. The Chantry is all too caught up in the intrigue of the Empress' court for only one woman to be any obstacle to such a strategy. That is why we must stand together, now more than ever that we are facing renewed war," Fergus argued, looking at the contingent of recalcitrant nobles.

"It is easy for Highever and Redcliffe to speak of such things when they have unlimited access to the treasury and the ear of the king," Wulff grumbled.

"And what of the crimes of that maleficar knife ear, will the crown answer for the loss of our sons to her hand?" one noble spoke harshly as Alistair shot him a dangerous look.

"A word of advice," he growled, "I will accept all manner of slights and criticism toward myself, but I will not allow that slur to be spoken in my presence. You were saying?"

The noble looked quite taken aback, so much so that he could not immediately respond. Another man at his side with small, cold eyes was all too eager to voice his own complaint and said in a smooth voice, "Lord Braden should be forgiven for his outburst, Your Majesty. The loss of a son to your...mistress would harden any man's heart toward the elves. My own son died at her hands as well and Arl Urien's boy too...though he sadly is not with us to ask for justice".

"Lord Jonaley speaks the truth," Braden finally recovered. "We have mourned for their deaths, but they can never rest in peace until that knife...elf is punished for her crimes. And look at the brigands and thieves of the alienage, they were rewarded for the savage acts one of their number committed!"

"My own son was also cruelly tortured and murdered by that fiend," another noble spat, Alistair recognizing him as Bann Sighard. "I demand that justice be done".

Alistair vaguely remembered an arrogant boy by the name of Sighard being held in Howe's dungeon, but it certainly was not Kallian who was torturing him. He could not say that, however, as she had killed him, the corruption within her at the time demanding that all nobles be put to the sword. As for the other two, she might have killed them at some point during a battle or otherwise, but he remembered no time when she had outright murdered nobles outside the incident with Howe. The mention of Urien made him pause though, the vague words Kallian had spoken about the former Arl of Denerim, his son, and the incident that led to Duncan conscripting her rising to the forefront of his mind. She had never told him what really happened that day, her outburst in Andraste's temple the only thing of substance she had ever let slip, but he could work it out for himself what had happened that terrible day. He had no proof though, the perpetrators long dead and Kallian far away, so he could only voice suspicions.

"I am sorry for your loss, truly," he grimaced, trying to sound sincere. Somehow it came easy to him. "Unfortunately, Kallian is not here to defend herself from these accusations, so I can take no action".

"I just told you what happened! Our sons were murdered by that maleficar, and you dare to call us liars?" an angry Jonaley asked in disbelief.

"I do not doubt that you speak the truth, but since the accused is not present, we cannot get her side of the story. There might be _circumstances_ that you are unaware of," Alistair said with an air of finality.

The incensed nobles did not take the hint though. "What does it matter what her story is. She is an elf! You would believe the word of an elf over the word of a noble?" Braden spat in an incredulous tone, the word elf rolling off his tongue like poison.

"She is an elf, but she is also the Arlessa of Amaranthine if you have forgotten. Even if she was not, however, the fact that she is an elf would in no way make her testimony carry any less worth than yours _Lord_ Braden," he responded quickly, speaking the title with veiled disdain. "I have been reminded often in this exchange that we are not living in Orlais, and that is true. In Ferelden, power is granted to the nobles through the freeholders, not held by some all-powerful ruler and dispersed to those in favor. That means that the people's word is worth no less than any noble, despite any delusions of grandeur that they may be under".

Elissa smiled but before she could voice agreement, Arl Bryland interrupted, saying, "A fine speech, Your Majesty, but I am afraid I must concur with some of the concerns my peers hold with regard to your decision to make nobles of these...elves. I applaud your efforts to rectify the poor condition of the elves, and their inclusion in the nobility may do much to prevent the riots that have plagued our cities in the past, but...two elves holding two of the jewels of Ferelden is unacceptable".

Shouts of agreement went up around the gathering of nobles as Alistair grimaced, his eyes moving to an again hooded Leliana as she sighed in disgust. "Well, I see Shianni's not going to get any dinner party invitations from this lot," Alistair murmured to Elissa who responded with a hesitant smile. "I did find it a little odd that Shianni wasn't here when she lives an estate away. If you see her on the way out you might want to pull the knife out of her back. I thought Fereldans always looked their opponent in the eye during a fight".

"Alistair," Eamon said in that fatherly voice that made the king inwardly cringe, "The common folk are rightly skeptical when an elf is appointed to rule over them, something that the increased support from the elves cannot overcome. Denerim is more than our capital; it is a symbol of our power and strength. How can other nations, especially our enemies, ever take us seriously with, I'm sorry to put it so bluntly, an elf in such a high position".

"I am sure you came to the decision with the best of intentions, Your Majesty, but sometimes ruling entails putting your personal feelings aside. Sometimes you must put the wishes of the people above your own," Teyrn Fergus added.

"Alistair, I know you are very close to Shianni...like family even," Teagan began as Alistair looked at him with something like betrayal. "She can still hold a title, maybe something like Bann of the alienage, but the Arling of Denerim must be held by...a more traditional lord".

"More traditional," Alistair chuckled, his face red with anger. "We'll need to find someone who excels in rape and murder then. Shouldn't be too hard".

"So when you fail to get your way, you resort to slander?" Braden scoffed in a rude outburst.

"It is not 'you,' cretin," Elissa snarled, "refer to the king as His Majesty, or I will cut out that vile tongue!"

"Elissa, please. I think there's enough bad blood between us without actually drawing it," Alistair cautioned, but he could not hide his smirk.

"And what does the Lady Cousland think of all this, hmm?" Bryland asked.

As Alistair looked at her expectantly, Elissa knew she was in trouble. In all honesty, she had to admit that before it actually happened the idea of elves as nobles was humorous, something only a harmless crank would come up with. Her father had always ingrained upon her that it was a lord's duty to look after one's more vulnerable subjects, like a father would look after unruly children. Elves, being lazy, slow, and prone to crime, needed more looking after than most. At least, that was what she was raised to believe.

Being around elves, especially in Denerim, which was almost like the second coming of Arlathan, made those formerly perfectly reasonable beliefs seem a little silly. It made her uncomfortable when she caught herself condescending to an elf, like she was a bully. Kallian was different from the elves she had known before, as where they were clumsy and dull, she was cunning and fierce, like a wolf among sheep. It made sense that some elves would stand out from the vast majority, but the occasional anomaly did not make elves equal to humans, not by any measure. But if that were true, why did she feel so dirty admitting it? It was reasonable and most would agree that she was right, so why could she not say it?

She and Shianni had never been close, but she had been civil with her after going through an initial period of coldness. Shianni was like that around every human at first, her wide eyes always looking at them with suspicion and thinly veiled anger. She had never warmed up to Fergus nor to most of the others save Alistair, often being unbelievably rude even to the Chancellor. She had a tendency to alienate the other nobles without the added problem of her race, on one occasion scandalizing the court when an important official from Antiva attempted to kiss her hand, earning him a black eye and a sore jaw. She had nothing against her, but those who were bred for leadership should rule.

"I think," she began as she looked to Alistair and then away again. "I think that His Majesty's support of the elves has conferred a substantial benefit on this nation, and if it is his wish to continue with it...we should respect that decision". Lying did not make her feel as low as she thought it would. She rationalized her decision, repeating that it was her duty to support Alistair, and her own opinion was meaningless beside his own.

"Already the dutiful bride," Wulff said under his breath as Fergus gave her a look that could terrify darkspawn. "The issue of the Arling of Denerim can be left until the Landsmeet, but due to the absence of a certain undesirable apostate, Amarathine has no Arl. What of that city...do you intend to leave it leaderless forever, Your Majesty?"

"Amaranthine was left to the supervision of the Grey Wardens, Arl Wulff," Alistair reminded him.

"Yes, so good that you left our chief port in the hands of foreigners. A stroke of brilliance, I dare say," he mocked in return. "What of the Howes? Rendon's first son, Nathaniel I think his name was...I do not believe he fell in the war. Perhaps the city should return to its rightful claimant".

"The Warden Commander had the boy executed when he returned to Vigil's Keep, unfortunately," Eamon cut in gravely. "She thought it wise given the late Rendon Howe's past transgressions".

Alistair knew that the real reason was far more personal and not rational in the slightest. That worm Howe had murdered her father, and even if she had sworn off the dark side and rid herself of the corruption of vengeance, forgiveness was never easy to come by. The poor sod never had a chance even if he was innocent.

"Cutting off the head of the snake is not enough," Elissa sneered, glaring at Arl Wulff with hatred in her eyes. "The serpent must be made never to strike again".

"Elissa, there is no evidence that anyone beside Howe himself was involved in betraying our family," Fergus chided, his anger at Wulff held in check a tad better. "Do you really think Nate or Delilah were aware of his schemes? Why would he have sent him away otherwise? Would father really want you to keep holding that grudge?"

"Well maybe father could tell me himself if he had not been murdered by that lying snake," she growled.

"Lords and Ladies, I believe we have strayed too far from the topic that brought us here. Revan. I demand her immediate arrest and transfer into my guards' custody to answer for the crimes she stands accused of," the Revered Mother interrupted in an impatient tone.

"Your Reverence, you must understand that Revan is extremely dangerous. You will not be able to take her with a contingent of templars," Elissa argued.

"Or an army," Alistair added as the old woman shot daggers at them with her watery eyes.

"Even if concern for my safety was your real motive in preventing her capture," the old woman scowled, "fear of her blood magic does not excuse harboring this maleficar. One who aids a user of forbidden magic is just as guilty in the eyes of the Maker as the sinner herself!"

"Then I fear that we are an impasse then because even if I could give her to you, I wouldn't. I would never betray a companion even if...she is an evil witch," he resolved, earning shocked looks from the gallery.

"Your Majesty, I have tried to be reasonable, but this is madness," Arl Bryland scoffed.

"Has the blood mage already put you under her spell, boy? It's hardly surprising given your last choice of a lover," Wulff growled in disgust.

"Alistair, standing up for your convictions is all well and good, but this woman deserves none of your compassion," Eamon insisted. "She murdered my wife and Maker knows how many others".

"Do you wish for the Divine's armies to fall upon us all?" the old woman cried aghast.

"Maker save us," Fergus murmured, shaking his head violently.

"Revered Mother, if I may speak to this issue...I believe I can do much to assuage the concerns everyone has," Leliana spoke suddenly, bringing all attention to the hooded figure that had hovered quietly near Alistair for the duration of the exchange.

"I wondered when the silent sentinel would speak up, but I did not expect an...Orlesian," the Chancellor observed, "Might we have your name and your purpose here?"

"Wait, I recognize that voice," the Revered Mother gasped. "Sister Leliana, is that you. When you disappeared, I always assumed the worst".

"It is good to see you again, Your Reverence," Leliana said, revealing a smile as she pulled back her hood. "I heard of the destruction of Lothering...I am glad you escaped the darkspawn safely".

"You, a sister of the Chantry?" Wynne spoke incredulously. "You were a companion of the Warden and Revan. You did not even object when all those templars were slaughtered before your eyes!"

Leliana looked away, her face contorted in a pained expression. "Many terrible things happened during the blight, but the Maker still watched over us to the end. We must all seek our forgiveness from Him, but it is His place to condemn, not ours".

"I knew you wanted to join the Grey Wardens, Leliana, but you insisted that the Maker spoke to you. If that was true, why would He allow you to fight by the side of two rogue mages who spat in the face of everything we hold sacred?" the Revered Mother asked sadly. "Have you abandoned your faith completely?"

"The Divine asked me what I believed once, asked if my faith had been shaken from what I saw during the blight, but she believed in me enough to let me stand at her side," she said with fervor, the brown cloak falling back from the eye painted on her breastplate. "I am a Seeker of the Chantry and a defender of the Divine. My home is the Chantry, and I would not see it harmed".

"A Seeker, one of the Divine's enforcers? I thought that they were only sent to root out heresy within the Chantry itself or to bring recalcitrant leaders in line," Fergus spoke in surprise as crowd in the room tensed.

"How could the Divine already be aware of the incident with Revan to send one of her agents here?" Bryland asked as others shrugged.

"She is not aware. I came here to see Alistair and for no other purpose, but now that I know of this incident, I cannot just ignore it," Leliana explained. "I would ask you all to be patient and leave Revan alone for now. I will contact the Divine and reason with her. She is a woman of great faith and compassion and will not be so quick to levy war as her predecessor did".

"So you want us to leave the blood mage alone with our king and ignore her?" Eamon questioned sarcastically.

"Much of the Chantry's anger toward Kallian and Revan is targeted at their supposed use of blood magic. They are not mages; neither use magic as we understand it," Leliana said carefully, knowing how insane her words must sound. "In Revan's home...country, the people there believe in something called the Force, and as Alistair and I can attest, it is far different from any magic familiar to us".

Elissa looked like she wanted to dispute this but stayed silent as the Revered Mother asked, "Not mages? This is very difficult to accept as the truth, Leliana".

"Templar techniques are useless in suppressing their power, right? There's your proof," Alistair pointed out.

"Nevertheless, the murder of the Grand Cleric cannot simply be ignored. Mage or not, she must face justice," the old woman insisted.

"I think the dispensing of justice should be left in the Maker's hands, and besides, everyone deserves another chance," Leliana argued weakly.

"Revan's nation is said to be unbelievably powerful, and she is a person of some renown there. It would be folly to punish her and have a fleet of ships from far away waiting to invade in the name of retribution," Alistair lied.

"Well, I see you have begun to master the subtle art of politics," a voice said from behind him.

Alistair turned to the source and saw the slight figure of Revan walking slowly toward them, her unmasked face showing signs of irritation. Her gray eyes were bloodshot and watery, like she had been woken up from a deep sleep. She looked exactly the way he remembered save for her raven-black hair tied in an elaborate braid slung over her shoulder, and a still-healing cut on the bridge of her nose surrounded by discolored bruises under her eyes.

His eyes widened as she removed the silver weapon from her belt, both sides extending as she twisted and separated the two sabers. She tossed one side over his shoulder as he flinched, the unmistakable snap hiss of the blade activating sounding as it passed by. Several gasps were uttered as an electrical squeal filled the room, Alistair's eyes being drawn to the floating saber surrounded by lightning suddenly becoming buried in a dark figure's chest, sightless eyes of red glass flickering for a moment as the creature fell.

More red sabers activated around them as Revan caught one on her second weapon, the clashing red blades crackling as she pushed her attacker back, twisting its lightsaber around and severing both hands. She sent her saber through its midsection just as two more attackers converged on the snarling woman, their weapons blazing as she parried their strikes. She pulled the crackling energy blade above her head and blocked an attack aimed at her back and then ripped the screaming blade down, cutting down the opponent facing her even as it tried to raise its own weapon to mount a weak defense. Without hesitation, she reversed her grip on the saber and stabbed it behind her, the crimson blade burning through the infiltrator's gut. Lazily, she withdrew the weapon and spun, decapitating her attacker in one smooth stroke.

All gathered were standing with mouths agape at the unexpected carnage before them, the shining weapons and strange attackers taking them far out of their element. The black-garbed fighters seemed completely oblivious to their presence, focusing entirely on Revan as she cut them apart one after another. Only three remained, but the dark-clad figures seemed unconcerned with the loss of their comrades.

Revan's thrown lightsaber returned to her outstretched hand just as the trio lunged, the first being blown away by a blast of Force energy as she met the other two blade for blade. She wasted no time dispatching them, forcing one away with a brutal slash and holding the other in the air with a Force choke, her momentum spinning her around so that she bisected the floating creature, leaving a macabre ornament hanging in the air. Redoubling her attack, she batted her second opponent's saber away and stabbed both of her weapons into its chest, burning away organs as its black robes burst into flames.

She deactivated both weapons as the smoking body collapsed on the floor, her quick steps taking her to the stirring infiltrator she had sent careening into a wall. Her hand curled into a claw as she lifted the broken body off the ground, choking the remaining life out of it as her mouth curled into a manic grin. Revan removed the mask after the Force vanished from the lifeless corpse, her eyes narrowing as she looked upon the ruined face of the assassin. Alistair saw the look of revulsion on her face as she studied her attacker, but she blocked the corpse's features from view.

"As I thought," she sighed, still suspending the body in the air.

"Care to enlighten us?" Alistair asked, still a little shaken.

"Take a look," she said glibly, tossing the body into their midst.

He could see now why she had carried such a revolted expression when looking at this thing, and by the gasps and nauseated looks, he was not alone. The creature had gray skin festering with sores, the flesh cracked almost like it had been mummified. Its nose and ears were cut off, making the face look like a skull. From the sunken sockets over which its eyelids were stitched together, the creature obviously had its eyes removed, and the mouth was similarly sewn shut. Small horns stuck out from its bald head, scars covering every inch of its shredded flesh. "What is this thing...it looks almost like a darkspawn emissary," he asked in a horrified voice.

"A Sith assassin from the looks of it," Revan shrugged as she approached.

"Why does it look like that? Is this the extent of the corruption from the dark side you told us about?" Alistair asked.

"No. I told you, did I not, that the Force grants the user the power to see the universe as it truly is. Explaining it, as I have often said before, is like trying to teach the blind about color. These fools," she continued, looking at the body with disdain, "gave up all their senses in order to focus completely on the Force all living things carry within. They are unrivaled at tracking as they crave and gain strength from the Force sensitives they hunt. It is a sad, wasted existence where one is only a tool for a power far greater".

Alistair saw one of the nobles pick up a lightsaber and moved to stop him, but Revan was quicker, "Children should not handle dangerous things," she said sweetly, pulling the weapon away from him and striking it with a burst of lightning. She placed one hand above her head and unleashed several bolts, each aimed at one of the fallen lightsabers, the weapons sparking as the electricity fried their circuits.

"What is a Sith...what is going on?" Elissa cried out, the strange warriors wielding swords made of light deeply unnerving her.

"I believe Leliana was doing her best to inform you about the general details," Revan said, nodding at the red-haired woman. "My nation, the Republic, has forever been at war with one Empire of the Sith or another. These are the soldiers that make up their army".

"So your presence has brought a whole other army to our doorstep...perfect," Eamon sighed.

"They care nothing for your tiny plot of land. They are probably only here because they sensed a great presence in the Force, namely myself," she said airily before swaying and almost collapsing into Alistair's arms. "Fierfek, I think I reopened that wound". She placed an armored forearm to the melted gash in her armor, the beskar plate slick with blood when she brought it to her eyes.

"Maker, you're bleeding everywhere. Wynne!" he called out, looking to the frowning mage for aid.

Revan waved him away with a hiss, her eyes flashing yellow. "I need no help from the likes of you!" she snarled. "Ignoring the...distraction, I wanted to inform you that I would be leaving shortly, and seeing how much of the gnashing of teeth was on my account, I'm sure you will be pleased".

Alistair glanced briefly around the room, noticing the wary looks from most of the gathering present. Even after spending so much time with her, the way Revan's mood could violently shift from wrathful to sickly sweet still was disconcerting. He could only wonder what everyone else thought of her. "You're leaving? You told me your ship was destroyed, and you would stay here until your people came for you," he blurted out as Revan gave him a wry look, the scar on her cheek stretching as she grinned deviously.

"I lied," she said airily. "There is some power in the north that is calling out to me. It would be rude to simply ignore it".

"Could you be any more cryptic?" he asked sardonically.

"Why yes, I could have simply vanished into the night, but I would not want you worrying over me," she said with a brilliant smile. "I will not be going far, and I will return before you could even start missing me".

"Planning a long journey then?" Alistair continued in the same mocking tone.

"Wait! You still have not explained all this. We need answers!" Elissa exclaimed, several nobles grumbling in agreement.

"How can you ever expect to learn anything if all the answers are given to you?" Revan responded sweetly before calmly walking away. "And I need a new cloak. Black, preferably". As Elissa sputtered, Alistair could only shake his head.

* * *

The loud thump of an armored body impacting the cold, steel floor reverberated around the high-ceilinged observation deck, the steady thrum of a lightsaber continuing long after the sound faded. A cloaked figure stood above the cooling body, brown robes so dark that they were indistinguishable from black shifting as the figure lowered the weapon to its side, a red glow reflecting off a borrowed mask. The figure was armored, the plates resembling that of what the Mandalorians wore but perverted and stripped of everything that identified one of the warrior people with family and clan. No sound but that of a lightsaber filled the empty room, the silent figure waiting for a reaction from the one who stood before it.

Mandalore the Ultimate towered over the slight figure, blood-red cape concealing a massive frame covered by impenetrable armor and circuitry. A golden mask covered his features, the legacy of previous Mandalores etched into the ancient metal, the T-shaped visor bearing a reflection of the dark figure that stood before him. In one hand he hefted a beskar sword the length of his opponent and broad like the claymores still used on primitive worlds throughout the galaxy.

Neither of the fighters said anything, their battle beginning with an unspoken word between the two, a blade of pure energy clashing against an unyielding metal that legend told was indestructible. So they danced as a grand battle raged outside the viewscreen, millions dying as the Mandalorians launched their crippled ships into the armada of the Republic in a series of suicide runs, the warrior race still believing that their resolve could crush that of the weak Republic. But the ships of the Republic did not yield, more filling the gaps left behind as burning wrecks sank to the lightning-filled atmosphere of Malachor.

As hundreds of thousands of starfighters darted between each other in a frenzied swarm, laser cannons filling the darkness of space with flashes of red and green, the two combatants engaged in a more elegant dance. Each blow was measured, each swing calculated, each parry designed to bestow an advantage to the defending party. Their battle seemed to go on forever, neither fighter even coming close to grazing the other as the furious combat continued.

The dark figure was not one to take pleasure in the thrill of combat, however, as a terrible power gathered around its fingertips. Sensing the danger, the Mandalorian leader attempted one last, futile attack before he felt the power rip his body apart from the inside. He staggered, his life forfeit but his will still refusing to be overcome. He charged clumsily, broken bones and torn muscles grinding together as he leveled the massive blade toward the chest of his enemy, his opponent seemingly struck dumb by the unexpected display.

As he lunged, space exploded, the world of Malachor cracking apart as countless ships were crushed into its surface, the vast fleets of the Republic and the Mandalorians disappearing into the singularity. Billions of lives ended in an instant, an agonized scream sundering the Force as a world died. Mandalore's sword stopped only an inch from the cold armor of his opponent, its masked face turned to the horror outside one of the few ships remaining to the Mandalorians. The dark figure stayed motionless even as the sword stopped, its attention focused on something far more important.

"It is beautiful, is it not?" the figure spoke mockingly, the feminine voice cold and mechanical.

She turned to the dying warrior before her, waiting for one last meaningless taunt before he joined the rest of his worthless brethren in death. She smiled behind her mask, long years of fighting and suffering finally reaching a glorious crescendo.

The light of Malachor's end reflected off his mask as he turned to her, the motion slow and pained. She looked into the black visor, the glow looking like flames licking at the edges of his mask. He spoke slowly, deliberately, his voice holding no fear and, to his opponent's surprise, something that almost seemed like joy and awe. "More beautiful than you can know, Revan," the broken warrior spoke, his gaze never leaving hers even as the spark of life vanished from his shattered body.

Kallian's eyes snapped open, the image of fire reflecting off a glass visor slowly fading from her mind. Her head throbbed, the shrill scream made up of millions of voices still filling her ears. She tore at her hair, her teeth grinding together as she waited for the agony to pass. The pain gradually ebbed away, but the scene of chaos remained etched in her mind.

"Bad dreams?" a playful voice spoke up. Kallian ignored the annoying man for a few moments, testing her reaction to see if she was well enough to sit up. When she did not immediately feel a wave of nausea twist her insides, she looked up at the warm eyes of the man, seeing the concern hidden behind that goofy grin. It was not so much concern for her current well being, she saw, but more directed at a more insidious cancer that he thought he saw within.

"Don't you know how to knock?" she growled, looking away and grimacing. "And anyway, I thought I said I needed to sleep without anyone bothering me".

"You might have said something like that, but the way you felt in the Force, I figured you'd be up in a bit," he shrugged.

"So you like to watch unsuspecting people sleeping? Now there's an admirable trait," she said sarcastically as she spun her legs off the cot. "How's the Sith bitch doing? Get any useful information out of her?"

"She's sleeping for the moment. Her body was at the limit...I'm surprised she could even fight in her condition," he answered, a worried look coming over his face.

"What, you call that fighting?" she scoffed. "I call it suicide by lightsaber. If you weren't such a softy, we wouldn't have the problem of dealing with her now".

"If you want to look at her presence as a problem, so be it, but this is a real chance to save someone, to redeem them. Don't you think you should return the favor?" he asked her.

"I don't owe anyone anything," she sneered back at him.

"Kallian, I don't know why you find it necessary to put up this harsh front. I...hell pretty much everybody on this ship can feel the Force and can see right through it. You're not fooling anyone," he stated confidently, crossing his arms and adopting a self-satisfied smirk.

"Maybe your feelings deceive you, or maybe your arrogance blinds you, I don't know, but this is how I am. Keep your illusions if you want...it's none of my concern," she said dismissively.

"But you _are _my concern," he said, taking a seat across from her and letting her know that he was not going away. "If I'm misunderstanding something, set me straight. Tell me more about you".

"Why would I do that? We're not master and apprentice or friends or anything close to it," she responded quickly in a condescending tone. "And why should I be the only person regaling you with the epic tale of my life? Why don't you tell me all about you?"

"Well...what do you want to know?" he asked, a little uncomfortable but willing to go along with her avoiding of the issue.

"Absolutely nothing," she deadpanned. "What? You expected that I'd fall for your obvious ploy, so you could segue into interrogating me? Not going to happen".

She looked smug at his surprise, reveling in her minor victory over the man, but he quickly recovered. "I must admit you have truly outsmarted me this time. I wonder what it's like to be gifted with such wit and cunning in addition to your otherworldly beauty," he spoke with a sheepish grin.

"Really? Flattery? That's the best you can come up with?" she shook her head.

He smiled as he studied her expression, the wry glare she wore both parts irritated and joking. "You know, I heard about how you saved that girl in the refugee quarter. I was a little surprised after all the complaining you did about wasting time with the wretched refuse of Nar Shaddaa, but when I thought about it, it was so like you to intervene. You're fiery but insecure, and you do not like other people looking at you as weak. But being weak does not mean giving your life to serve others and being strong does not mean persecuting those you consider to be beneath you".

"You think you have everything figured out. You're so wise and know others better than they know themselves," she sneered, her blue eyes freezing cold. "I helped that girl because those bastards attacking her needed taught a lesson. Those brutes think they're strong because they can gang up on someone, but gather a bunch of weak fools together and you still have only weak fools. It's about what's fair, not about being some sodding hero! That girl didn't have a chance to become strong and protect herself. I gave her my blaster and gave her that chance. I don't want to help the weak and useless improve their sorry lot, I only want those who've been trampled by bullies their whole lives to have the opportunity to fight back!"

Kallian was yelling by the end of her rant, her face red and her eyes filled with fury. Lux looked at her closely as she remembered to breathe, her chest heaving as she cooled down. "There is so much anger in you. Your presence is like an exploding star in the Force...no wonder Revan was so intrigued by you," he said carefully. "But I worry where all that rage could lead you. You killed all those thugs with the Force, using a death field of all things! You have no idea how corruptive the power to drain life is...the essence of those you kill eat away at the Force inside you, destroying everything you once were. Only the most terrible of the Sith employed such heinous techniques, and it only led them to ruin".

"What's the difference? Either I kill them with a blast of lightning or cut their heads off with a lightsaber. They're dead either way," Kallian argued.

"The Force should never be used for destruction. Maybe Revan told you different, some nonsense about straddling the line between dark and light, but no one flirts with the darkness and comes out unscathed. The dark side grants you power, but it's a trap, a lure to make you its pawn," he said darkly, impressing upon her the importance of what he was saying. "I've seen great Jedi Knights fall, comrades turn on each other, heroes betray everything they've fought for all because they thought they were stronger than those who came before, that they would be able to command the dark side. Revan was no different. She thought she was stronger than Exar Kun and others like him, but she was humbled, and the Republic burned for her unchecked ego".

"It's just a tool, a convenient weapon. Force lightning kills just like a blaster would, with a burst of energy. There's no difference," she grumbled.

"Offensive Force powers are fueled by strong emotions: anger, hate, fear," he explained. "If you keep using them, you'll find that you always need a bit more power, forcing you to tap into the negative emotions that the dark side feeds on. It's inevitable...you gain more power but become a slave to the insidious will of the dark side. In the end, no matter how strong you become, you'll still be weaker than when you started as the Force will command you, not the other way around".

She stayed silent, thinking about what he said and thinking back to Revan's advice. The two philosophies were largely the same, both focused on mastering oneself and not letting the force dominate oneself. The means were far different though, as Revan taught her to control the dark power while Lux wanted her to avoid it all together. While she was thinking, Lux, sensing a breakthrough, continued his impassioned plea, "Kallian, I can teach you the ways of the Force, but to do that, I need to know what happened to you to give rise to all your rage. Help me understand. You have so much potential...please don't limit yourself".

She looked at him, avoided his intense gaze, sighed, and then finally met his eyes, "The humans on my world treat elves like we're rotting garbage on the street. Kill one, doesn't matter, he was probably a thief anyway. You're doing society a favor. Rape one, you're a hero doing your part to breed us out of existence. If you're lucky, she'll die in childbirth, so they'll be less knife ears packing the slums in the future," she said slowly and emotionlessly. "I grew up in a tiny alienage surrounded by high walls to keep us corralled like animals. The noble who ruled the city treated the alienage like his personal whorehouse, and the guards were all too willing to join in the fun. On my wedding day, it was my turn. He took me, my cousin Shianni, and some other girls to his estate for their entertainment. The guards killed one before my other cousin Soris helped me escape. She was praying to the Maker the whole time, but it didn't save her. We found my betrothed with his throat slashed after that, still alive and choking on his own blood. I could have healed him if I knew how to use the Force then, but instead he bled to death. I can't think of a worse way to die...still conscious but knowing that with every beat of your heart gets you closer to death".

She paused for a moment, reading the expression on Lux's face. He did not look shocked or sickened, but grim and uncomfortable, like he had seen things just as terrible but did not know how to respond to someone who had lived them. She continued in a matter of fact way, saying, "By the time we found Shianni, the bastard had already raped her. Her face was red and swelling from all the times they had hit her. They thought they were strong, three of them beating a girl half their size. That was the first time I felt the Force, when I butchered them. Soris said my eyes were yellow afterward...he was scared of me".

"Did it make you feel better, to kill them?" Lux asked softly.

"More than you could imagine...but it wasn't enough. I wanted to murder every noble after it happened. I wanted to torture every shem and make them experience what we lived through every day. I wanted revenge for a lifetime of being hungry, cold, and kicked around. I wanted them all to suffer like I had, like Shianni had," she seethed, remembering the murderous thoughts she held after being recruited by Duncan.

"But you didn't fall then...that came after, right?" he asked, snapping her back into reality.

"Yeah, I was recruited into a group tasked with fighting a certain old enemy, but that isn't really important. While I was with them I met Revan, and she started teaching me how to use the Force. There was a shem...a human traveling with me, Alistair...he was sincere, kind, trustworthy, and unlike any human I ever met. We fell in love even though it was insane for me to be with a human, but I didn't care about that," she recalled, smiling at the memories of goofy Alistair. "Alistair was the illegitimate child of the former king, and I thought that if I could make him king, things might be better for the elves. He was so good hearted...he didn't even want to rule, and I knew things would change if he secured the crown".

"Things didn't change, did they?" Lux asked, already knowing the answer. Shattered expectations and the passion of love were common precursors to a fall.

She surprised him when she answered in the negative. "No, they did," she said. "Not as well as I'd hoped, but probably better than I should have expected. But that's not important to what you want to know. To get at me, one of my enemies captured and tortured my father. I killed him of course...slowly, but it was too late for...my father. I lost it after that; when I heard that elves had sold out my father for coin I wanted to burn the alienage and kill everyone inside. It wasn't just humans anymore; I wanted revenge on the world for taking everything away from me. When Alistair tried to stop me from executing some elves, I hurt him badly. I told him that I never loved him, and that I could never love a human before I practically cut him in half. Then me and Revan dueled, and I got stabbed with a lightsaber. Fun times".

"You wouldn't be the first that challenged your master to a duel in the midst of a fall. It's kind of a Jedi tradition, dubious as it is," Lux joked, trying to lighten the mood. "I assume this Alistair survived though".

"When I saw him lying there covered in blood, I knew that I had failed at everything I tried to accomplish. I was so weak and stupid...I didn't even put up a fight against the darkness," she observed in a serious tone. "I was myself again, and he even found it in his heart to forgive me and still love me".

"Thank you for telling me. I'm sure it wasn't easy to just..." he trailed off. "Sorry, you know, for how I've acted toward you..."

"For all the shameless flirting? Relax, all you humans out here are like aliens anyway. It's hard to think of you like the shems on my world," she said dismissively. "And don't go treating me like I'm a delicate flower or something. I'm stronger than that. By the way, don't say anything to anyone about this unless you want to experience Force lightning first hand".

"Don't worry, I won't let anything slip...but if the unthinkable might happen, if you would be so kind as to not use the Force to kill me, I'd be grateful," he said in that smooth voice so annoying to Kallian.

"You know, I was so afraid to use the Force after it happened. It wasn't like I was a prisoner in my own body, unable to do anything while the dark side made me commit unspeakable acts. I liked it; I wanted to be consumed by the darkness," she whispered fearfully. "And it's happening again...I can feel it. I can't control myself, and I'm so afraid that I'll lose myself again".

"A Jedi must be constantly vigilant to guard against the dark side. For some of us, it's a lifelong struggle to master ourselves. That vision you just had, do you remember the flash of light that destroyed the fleets of both the Republic and the Mandalorians?" he asked, his voice becoming ragged, like it was hard for him to say the words.

"You know about that dream? What are you spying on my thoughts now?" she spat, a revolted look on her face.

"The Force draws those strong in it together and weaves connections between them. You saw a tragedy without equal, and those close to you could feel your anguish. Even the Handmaiden and Mira, who have little to no training, felt the waves of agony even if it was only a feeling of disquiet to them," he explained.

"What does this have to do with the dark side and how I might fall again?" she asked suspiciously.

"Every Jedi who was at Malachor either perished or fell to the dark side at that moment you saw...save one," he spoke darkly. "That one committed an unforgivable sin, a transgression against the Force itself. Revan and Malak were already on the dark path, but sometimes I can't help but think that I sent them over the edge".

Kallian looked at him and in that moment he looked crazed, manic even. She wondered what he could have done to motivate such self-hatred that suicide would be too good for him. "The Republic had a superweapon...a Mass Shadow Generator. When a ship travels through hyperspace, the navigator has to be careful not to plot a course through solid bodies like a planet or a sun because they leave shadows in hyperspace that will destroy any ship that flies into them. This weapon created a similar effect, drawing all the ships in orbit above Malachor V and crushing them into its surface, cracking the planet apart in the process. I ordered the weapon used, not Revan. They call her a monster, a betrayer and murderer. In the end she defeated Malak, saved the Republic, became the Prodigal Knight. I sent my friends and allies to their deaths, millions of them".

Kallian looked at him with contempt, her voice filled with anger as she spat, "You're nothing but a hypocrite. How can you ever teach me, teach anyone, to follow the light when you...you are the living embodiment of the dark side? All that's in you is murder and betrayal and fear and hatred!"

"It's true, but you are a far better person than I am, Kallian. You made mistakes, but your intentions have always been good. You wanted to help your people, and your anger at the discrimination you and others had to endure would be justified for anyone without the Force...but we don't have the luxury of being selfish," he told her. "The Force grants us the power to protect those we care about but also the power to destroy them. I wanted to punish the Mandalorians for their crimes in the Outer Rim, but I was proud and ignorant...I failed. _You_ can be a better Jedi than I was. You, the Handmaiden, Mira, and others we haven't found yet...you can rebuild the Order. You haven't spent your life hiding from reality in a gilded temple, unaware of the galaxy's suffering, so maybe you can reclaim the Jedi's mantle of guardians of peace and justice, defenders of the weak and downtrodden so that it's not just a meaningless truism".

"Stop projecting your own desires on me! I don't believe in becoming a tool to protect the useless or dedicating my life to serving others. When this is all over, I will return to my planet and go about my own business. I won't be a pawn of the Jedi," she growled, her icy eyes staring into his.

"It is your destiny," he said softly.

"Only fools believe in destiny," she sneered. "I'll let you teach me, but it will be for me and no one else. I will gain power for my sake, so I can protect those I love, not to help this messed up galaxy".

Lux merely nodded, his brown eyes unreadable as he remained focused on Kallian's icy orbs for a long moment. When he finally left, Kallian fell back onto the cot with a sigh. She unhooked her lightsaber, holding the silver tube above her as she examined the stark metal of the weapon. Revan had said that this was not her lightsaber; it was the weapon that had slain Malak, wielded by a brainwashed slave of the Jedi Council. But it was also the weapon of a hero, the savior of the Republic. Though not through her own intention, Revan's will had been carried out with this blade, the hopes she had carried when setting off for war finally fulfilled. Kallian brooded on the appearance of the hilt, wondering whether Revan was happier when she held this blade than she was now, wherever she was.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for another long delay. I know where I want to go with this, but it seems to be hard getting there. I said Dxun would be up next, but I got wrapped up in finishing off Nar Shaddaa finally. Thanks to all who read. Thanks to Gogolu, Bugsquirt, and MrEmperor for the reviews and to BlackWarth for the review of my previous story. I'm glad you like Revan's characterization. I think I enjoy writing her the most. Bugsquirt, I can see where you are coming from with regard to DA2. I liked the game, but there were way to many flaws that kind of made it seem rushed especially the reused environments. As for everything being gray, I think they are trying to get away from the black/white morality systems of Kotor, Jade Empire, and such and go with more of a Witcher no one is truly good or evil kind of world. What especially made me mad was the way every mage you met was insane, like Bioware anticipated that most people would automatically side with the mages as the persecuted, downtrodden group, so they decided to punish you for it. The ending was also poorly done, as your choices were completely meaningless. I was fine with the way they changed previously written characters, especially Anders-he always seemed to be an Alistair clone to me, and as for making them open for all orientations, I think it is a good thing that game content is equal whether you are gay or straight. Maybe it would have been better if they created new characters rather than recycling old ones. MrEmperor, I think the best part of crossovers is seeing how the characters from different worlds react to each other and the new place they are in. That is why I love to read them.**


	10. Searching for the Truth

Kallian could see why the Jedi still fought with lightsabers, the look of wonder those not gifted with the Force adopted when looking upon the blazing energy weapons obvious to anyone with eyes. In a galaxy where weapons like swords and bows had been replaced by blasters, a blade forged from light recalled legends of heroes from a more idealized time, clad in shining armor and wielding blades of steel sparkling in the sun. They were so out of place, so archaic, that one who possessed such a weapon could only be one of those otherworldly beings, chivalrous and honorable.

The reality, like so many things, was quite a bit less romantic than how the majority viewed the Jedi, the vaunted guardians of the Republic. Most of those who would be unfortunate enough to meet a Jedi in combat would only be used to fighting individuals just like them, armed with blasters, slugthrowers, and perhaps the occasional thermal detonator. Fighting a warrior armed with a lightsaber was disconcerting to the common hired muscle, and when they realized their trusty blasters were useless in the face of such a weapon, fear would prove the most potent weapon of all.

Kallian's daydream ended abruptly as Lux twisted her lightsaber out of her hand and sent it flying, the Handmaiden and Mira diving to get out of the way before Lux caught it with the Force. "Inattention in battle is a fatal error," he lectured, returning her weapon as she looked away in embarrassment. "You need to take this seriously. I did not think I would need to remind someone who has already lost much to the blade of a lightsaber to focus, but here we are".

The fiery-haired woman grunted in response, holding her lightsaber with two hands at a sharp angle. "Is that meant to be an opening stance?" Lux asked incredulously. "It looks like the mutant spawn of Ataru and Soresu. You might defeat your opponent because they will be too busy laughing if you took that stance in a real fight!"

Kallian glowered and snapped, "I thought you were going to teach me sword fighting, not how to make a dashing impression on my enemies".

"I am teaching you. Deciding on what style to use in a fight often decides the duel before it is fought. Only the greatest sword masters, like your master, can be so flippant about such things," he said with a long sigh, shaking his head. "This would be much easier if you did not fight me every step of the way".

"I'm not, and you're not exactly living up to the Jedi way with all your impatience," she murmured under her breath, glowering at him. "And what's with the gallery? It's hard to concentrate when half the crew is gawking at you".

"Don't mind me," Mira interrupted. "There's not much to do for entertainment on a ship like this, so you take what you can get".

Lux just sighed and shook his head, his words tired and defeated as he said, "You are not the only one who is gifted with the Force on this ship. Even observing the training of another can prepare one for when they undergo their own training. Younglings in the Temple normally attend sessions for older trainees even if they don't participate".

"If that's a veiled invitation to join in, you'll have to do better than that," Mira responded with disinterest, returning to the maintenance of her blaster.

"It wasn't just for you," Lux said pointedly. "But enough distraction, come at me again, Kallian".

The elven woman did so reluctantly, holding her saber in one hand toward him with the other held out to maintain her balance. She stepped forward slowly, her measured steps taking her slightly to his side to create a better angle to attack. As she slid her left foot forward, her shining bronze blade lashed out, striking his own with a squeal and hiss. He twisted her blade around with a deft movement, but Kallian slashed upward, pushing his weapon above his head. Using the momentum of the strong attack, she spun and leveled a blow to the center of his chest. Her saber met a blue bar of light pointed straight down as Lux barked, "Stop!" bringing the duel to a quick end.

Kallian was momentarily confused at why he had called for a halt, but Lux did not leave her in the dark for long. "Never take your eyes of your opponent in a duel unless you absolutely have to! If you are fighting for your life, you won't have time to indulge in such petty theatrics!"

"Pivoting creates momentum for the next attack, and it can throw your opponent off guard! Revan was always moving like that in a fight!" Kallian retorted angrily.

"Your Force senses are not as honed as hers," he said in an exasperated tone. "Those who have had extensive training in manipulating the Force have something like three hundred and sixty degree vision. They have no blind spots and are always ready to defend against opportunistic strikes. You are not at that level yet. I can't tell you how many of my comrades I've seen get shot in the back trying to be fancy on the battlefield".

Kallian snarled, her anger rising as she looked at the disappointed expression Lux bore. It was insulting to her, someone who was considered to be an unrivaled fighter back home, to be treated in this way, and she let the former Jedi know it. "I thought I agreed to learn from you, not to be treated like an ignorant child! I've had enough of this!"

"I'm just trying to help you Kallian," he said in a placating tone.

Kallian ignored him, storming out of the room and almost smashing into a floating black orb. "My apologies. I did not wish to intrude upon your training, but I concluded that the benefits of observing the relative skill level of my subjects outweighed the offense to societal conventions," the black orb spoke in a familiar voice.

Kallian could only gape at the uninvited guest as it made its way into the cargo hold, wholly unconcerned with the fact that it was intruder in a ship with numerous armed passengers. Turning to Lux, the orb spoke again in the deep, synthetic tone, "General Lux Vulnus, I have sought an audience with you for some time. I have a proposition I would like to discuss with you, one which I have previously spoken to your young companion about".

"Wait...you're that droid from Goto's yacht! How in the Force did you get on our ship?" Kallian exclaimed.

"The yacht had lost structural integrity. I thought it prudent to gain access to more stable accommodations or at least a base of operations not at risk of imminent destruction. Your ship, unsurprisingly, was the most convenient option though both Lux Vulnus' presence and your own, Kallian Tabris, was not an unsubstantial factor in my decision," the orb continued, turning its single, red eye to her.

"For one so concerned with protocol, wouldn't it be rude not to introduce yourself," Lux inquired, his lightsaber still held at his side.

"I apologize. My mission sometimes overrides any concern I would show courtesy and civility. Forgive me, I am Gee-Oh Tee-Oh," the droid spoke graciously.

"Gee-Oh Tee-Oh...Goto," Lux concluded, a brow rising over his eye in surprise.

"Precisely," the black orb responded as Kallian shot an annoyed look at the floating ball. "As I told your companion previously, I am tasked with the recovery of the Republic to prewar levels. This goal will be more easily met if I have the cooperation of the Jedi, hence my interest in acquiring your services".

"So you sent assassin droids after us...not a particularly friendly gesture," Lux observed innocently.

"Regrettable but necessary. General Revan designed the HK series to be efficient hunters of Jedi, and I could not afford to sacrifice what little time we have. I sincerely hope the methods I was forced to employ have not led to any displeasure on your part," the droid continued in a smooth, emotionless voice.

"No, of course not. Why would they? We've only been attacked on several occasions by a bunch of murderous droids. How could we ever be angry about that?" Kallian cut in sarcastically.

Lux was more diplomatic as he inquired, "You say you serve the interests of the Republic, but you were intercepting supplies meant to aid the reconstruction efforts on Telos. You have a reason for that?"

"Ah yes, Telos...most unfortunate," the droid spoke, not sounding in the least regretful about his actions. "The Republic was forced to accept several unfavorable trade deals with the Hutts to bring supplies to Telos. I could not allow the Republic to be beholden to such...unsavory partners. This may mean, of course, that the plan to reverse the devastation of Telos will fail, but the loss of one planet is insignificant compared to the benefit realized by the Republic as a whole".

"So you would abandon millions to their fate just to avoid the Republic getting too involved with the Hutts?" the Exile asked, aghast at the brutal logic.

"Yes," G0-T0 remarked simply. "You above all, General, should know that certain sacrifices are necessary for the greater good. It is for this very reason that I sought your aid in this".

Lux thought this over for a few seconds before responding coolly, "Whatever your reasons or goals and whatever I may think of them, we need to find the remaining Jedi and stop the Sith first".

"The defeat of the Sith would do much to help stabilize both the military and political spheres of the Republic. I would advise caution, however, in allowing any Jedi not known to have participated in the Mandalorian Wars under Revan to return to a position of influence. The inaction of the now defunct Jedi Council did much to exacerbate the current troubles the Republic now faces," the droid cautioned.

"Well, I'll leave you two to your strategy session. I have to check on HK," an annoyed Kallian called out as she left the room. As she walked to the main hold, she heard the distinct hum of the black droid floating behind her, and she turned to confront it. "Are you following me for a reason?"

"I have concluded my discussion with the general and am now returning to the point on this ship I have determined has the strongest connection to the holonet. Coordinating the activities of various enterprises, both legitimate and not, are a time consuming undertaking. I doubt you would know anything about that. The fact that I am following you is a coincidence you need not be concerned over," he spoke condescendingly.

Kallian gave the droid a hard look but continued to where HK-47 was once again standing vigilantly, his head constantly swiveling, glowing red eyes searching for threats. "You alright, HK. Bao-Dur fixed you didn't he?"

"Statement: If electronic butchery can be classified as 'fixing' then yes, I suppose my behavior core has been restored to its previous setting," the murderous droid spoke quickly, not bothering to look at her.

"You didn't...hurt anyone after you went back to normal, right?" she asked, knowing at least through the Force that no one on board had been killed.

"Explanation: Given that the Iridonian is the only meatbag aboard my master's ship to have any semblance of skill with regard to technology, I concluded that terminating him at this time would be unwise. Once my master is found, this unfortunate situation will be remedied".

"Well...I'm glad you're feeling better at least. The peaceful you was a little...strange to say the least," she admitted with a wry grin.

"Threat: Any mention of that in the future will be rewarded with a blaster bolt to any number of your vital areas, meatbag," he said menacingly before he looked straight at her. He seemed to be struggling with himself, almost like it pained him to say the words that came next. "Disclosure: I suppose I should be, what is the word organics use, 'thankful' that you insisted on the removal of that horrifying program. For a moment there I almost understood why some meatbags choose peace and love over a high-powered blaster carbine".

Kallian thought she saw the droid shudder as he finished speaking. "You wouldn't be the same lovable, murderous psychopath if I left you like that. How would I ever get along without you?" she joked in a playful tone.

"Commentary: I have often wondered the same. Even my own master showed the penchant of meatbags to bumble into rather unpleasant and unnecessary conflicts. I suppose it is my lot in life, to rectify the idiotic mistakes of the meatbags in my company by assassinating still other meatbags," HK mused. "Observation: I see now why Revan chose you as her apprentice. I have determined that I desire to kill you a statistically significant lesser portion of the time than any other meatbag I have known save Revan".

"Thanks, I guess," Kallian said, not sure over whether she should take it as a compliment or an insult.

* * *

"And what use will a broken Miraluka playing at being a Sith be?" Kreia asked without preamble as Lux entered behind her.

"I hoped to bring her back to the light. For being a Sith, the darkness within her felt more like an unwanted burden than something she chose to embrace," he spoke before considering the question further. "She also may have information on the Sith Lord that has been stalking the Jedi. Her master may be the one behind the Jedi Purge".

"You speak of _that one _as if he was a cunning strategist, crafting intricate plans to destroy the Jedi. You remember stories of Exar Kun and Ulic Qel-Droma and think that their successors care for such trifles of ruling over the galaxy or bending every living being to their will," she scoffed. "The Sith you seek is motivated by...baser instincts. He is a force of destruction only, one who will devour everything before finally becoming the final victim of his hunger. Higher causes and a lust for power are foreign to him".

"All Sith want power," Lux disputed. "It is even written in their code. The dark side is a means to obtain power, even if it destroys them".

"So sure, are you? I would cast aside such preconceptions about your enemy. There is always danger in remaining confident about that which we are ignorant of," Kreia cautioned, her tone biting. "Tell me, what is it the Jedi fight against? What is it they seek to defend or to uphold?"

"The answer is obvious to that, Kreia. The dark side, the Sith...the purpose of the Jedi is to ensure that they never come to rule over the galaxy again," he insisted, knowing that this answer would never satisfy the Jedi Master before him.

"Even as a Jedi, I never believed that...and once, neither did you. Do you remember Serroco, when the Mandalorians used those barbaric weapons to reduce every city to dust? Do you remember the pain we all felt through the Force, the anguish of untold beings extinguished for the great purpose of sending a message to the Republic?" she spat in anger. "No dark side motivated the beasts to pillage and slaughter, no lust for power, only the desire to fight. Only in combat were they happy...only then did they believe life was truly worth living".

"The Mandalorians have fought with the Sith from time immemorial. They are like the hound the hunter sics on his prey...a tool, nothing more".

"A tool they may be, but does not the dog feel pleasure in the kill? You think of evil and you can only see a desire for power at its root, but evil is more often birthed from the mundane. The ravenous appetites of man do not disappear simply because we would like to consider ourselves above them," she spoke quietly as Lux tried to grasp the meaning of her words.

"I will not underestimate any opponent I have to face. You can count on it. Whatever this Sith is, and whatever you're trying to tell me will not change that," he said, not taking his eyes off the old woman.

"You will face him in the end. It will be like two brothers separated at birth meeting for the first time, one destined to destroy the other," she chuckled as Lux looked at her as if she were insane.

"In a poetic mood are we? If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were weaving an epic tale from our exploits," he laughed.

"An apt metaphor. What is an author but one who controls the destiny of her characters, shaping their actions and pushing them to an inevitable conclusion?" she smiled.

"Just don't make it a tragedy. No one likes to read those".

"Indeed," she answered in a knowing voice. "So you mean to mold the girl into a Jedi, and not just her but the other lost ones you have encountered as well".

"You disapprove I take it?" he smirked.

"No, I care not what you do with them. If it is your intention to restore the Jedi Order, then I suppose it would be the wisest course to train them however futile it might be to do so. I had thought though that Revan's apprentice would be less than enthusiastic concerning joining the Order her own master turned away from".

"Kallian is not exactly happy about it; I'll give you that," he admitted with a sigh. "Her life has not been easy, and it has shaped her in ways both good and bad. She has struggled with the dark side, but she wants to help people, to bring justice to her homeworld. What is a Jedi but one who upholds justice?"

Kreia chuckled at this, cold, cruel laughter escaping her lips as remarked airily, "Justice? Now there is a word so often spoken of with so little meaning to it. Tell me, what is your definition of the word?"

"Kreia...I really don't have time for these games. I'm not a padawan learner anymore".

"How do you expect young Kallian to learn when you close off your own mind?" she admonished, her voice filled with disappointment.

Lux opened his mouth to retort but instead decided to give in. "I've never really thought about what justice is...it always seemed kind of self evident. I guess if I had to give an answer...justice is to each what they deserve".

He saw Kreia smile at this, her tone slightly mocking as she said, "Oh? To each what one deserves...there is wisdom in such a pronouncement though I doubt that was your intention in saying such. If your definition were correct, then would not one who is strong deserve to rule over one who is weak? Is that not justice?"

"No, that's the opposite of what I'm saying. It is justice when one who is strong defends and protects the weak".

"But why do the weak deserve that protection?" she continued. "They did nothing to earn it. They refused to better themselves, to improve their position, and instead rely on one more worthy to lower themselves to their benefit. Is that not unjust to the stronger? Is not one weakening oneself to provide for the multitude of undeserving? Is not the net result of such 'justice' a detriment to all involved, both the strong and weak?"

"And what if by serving the weak, they become strong themselves? And how do you even define someone who is weak or strong? Isn't a pacifist who stands up to tyranny, even suffering brutal treatment for their beliefs but not fighting back, someone who is strong even though they would not even resist if attacked? Your beliefs are flawed, Kreia. People aren't so easily categorized into the worthy and worthless," he argued passionately as Kreia observed him without expression.

"Good. You are learning, but there is one final step to take. Imagine if you will, that a thief kills his mark for a few credits. Would the murder be unjust?" she asked in a grave voice as Lux nodded in the affirmative. "But the murderer is merely taking what he deserves. Was there not work involved in the shadowing and killing of the mark? It would be unjust if the thief failed to reap the benefit of his work".

"And what of the dead man...where is the justice for him?"

"By your definition, justice is giving each what they deserve. The thief's victim failed to take precautions to avoid just such an occurrence. Because the victim was unprepared to confront the thief, it is just that the thief succeeded. To each what they deserve correct?" she continued condescendingly.

"That's not what I meant!" a flustered Lux tried to explain. "I mean if you're a good person, it's only right that you are treated in a similar manner, and if you are wicked, you are punished for your actions. The price of one's actions is important, not what you're going on about".

"So if someone who is by your definition good is felled by a disease, was the disease unjust?" Kreia asked knowingly as Lux sputtered incoherently. "Should not the virus be punished for causing the death of one so moral and good?"

"A virus has no ill intent. It's just doing what is natural, you know, trying to survive," he argued with a tinge of anger coloring his voice.

"As was the proverbial thief, but you name him unjust. If you speak of intent, the virus has every intention of using the host's body to breed more of itself, destroying the host in the process. The intent to destroy is the intent to continue living. By its very nature it destroys".

"Then what's the answer then? What is justice?" he asked in a resigned tone, not willing to fight with the cunning old woman any longer.

Kreia gave him a bemused look before responding, "It is simple. Justice is a lie, a fabrication the foolish imagine binds a galaxy that is pure chaos. All these grand concepts of peace, morality, and your justice are illusions created by the weak to cope with life filled with all manner of vileness and cruelty. The Jedi seek to impose their own brand of order, calling it justice, on the chaos of nature, but what they truly embody is not these laughable ideals but power".

"And the point of telling me this is?"

Lux thought he felt a twinge of annoyance through the Force as Kreia answered, "When you meet the Miraluka's master, perhaps then you will understand. He is like a virus, moving from world to world only to satiate his hunger. He destroys because it is his nature to do so, not for a higher goal. These Sith are slaves to their baser appetites and are all the more dangerous for it. You would do well to remember this".

"I'll remember," Lux said gravely before turning his back on her. "Thanks for the advice...I think".

"If you are looking for counsel, there is one more warning I can give you," she stated cryptically. "I would be wary of Revan's apprentice...she will betray you".

Lux turned to look at her in shock, but the hooded woman said no more. It was like Kreia to put doubts in his mind, but her warnings usually had merit to them. Kallian was filled with darkness, he knew, but to think that she would completely lose herself was unthinkable. He shook his head violently, trying to rid his mind of such thoughts. Not believing in her was the surest way to place the woman in the waiting hands of the Sith.

As he struggled with Kreia's revelation, he blinked in confusion as he found himself in the ship's small medbay, their resident Sith apprentice studying him as she sat up on her cot. "I am surprised you did not come immediately when you realized I had awakened. The lack of restraints also, not many Jedi would be so trusting of a Sith".

"You surrendered, but more than that, you gave up on living in that moment. I doubted you would take this chance to assassinate the crew, and my intuition is usually right," Lux said coolly as he leaned back on the doorframe. "We didn't really have a chance to get acquainted previously...and if you don't mind, I'd like to know a little about the Sith I spared".

"There is nothing to know about me. I was a tool of my master, and now that I have failed him, I am nothing," she whispered.

Lux felt anger rise as he felt the woman's self-hate, the despair she felt so consuming that she could no longer feel emotion as others did, her heart a hollow vessel filled with darkness. "You give up so easily. I thought the Sith were supposed to be strong?" he mocked.

"I am aware of my failure both as an instrument of my master and as a Sith," she conceded willingly. "If I was not so weak and frightened, I would take my own life rather than endure this meaningless existence".

As soon as his anger appeared, it just as quickly vanished. He had hoped to provoke her, so she could escape this melancholy state, but she seemed more damaged than he first assumed. The way she so readily accepted anything he said as fact and how she portrayed herself as little more than an extension of her master's will spoke to deep wounds. It was like she was conditioned to be subservient, too afraid to consider herself anything more than an obedient slave. He moved closer to her, his hand reaching out to touch her shoulder but she flinched away like a wounded animal. "I'm not going to hurt you," he said reassuringly. "Could you tell me your name at least?"

"They called me Visas Marr once," she said after awhile. "Before my master came to Katarr, that was the name I used".

Lux was sure he heard that name before, whispers of a planet stripped of all life. The Jedi had gone there, and none had returned. "The beginning of the Jedi Purge," he spoke gravely, more to himself than the timid woman before him. "You were there? What happened?"

She turned away, a strangled sound emerging from her throat as she struggled to get the words out. "My master spoke...and all life on the planet died. The Jedi who came there, my people who only experienced the universe through the Force, all were sacrificed to his hunger. He...he is a wound in the Force, a ghost from the graveyard world of Malachor. Something like him should not exist, but he wills himself to live," she shuddered before turning to him with those eerie empty eye sockets. "I sense it in you as well, a hole in the Force that time cannot heal. You are like him...and yet so different. You too have experienced so much pain; the deaths of so many are within you".

"My former master speaks of this often...this so-called wound in the Force. What do you mean by it? I don't quite understand".

"Death on such a scale cannot be endured by the living. The Force cannot exist without life, and when the light of so many is suddenly snuffed out, the Force dies as well. All who were at Malachor were changed by it...broken by it," she explained in a ragged voice, like it was painful for her to say. "I felt such pain on Katarr...like I was dying a thousand deaths. Only I was left alive when my master descended to the dead world...why I do not know. He came to me where I lay in agony, surrounded by the lifeless husks of my family and made me _see_".

It disturbed him how she spoke of her master, the terror she felt for him laced with stranger emotions, something almost like affection and warmth. This woman had suffered unspeakable abuse at the hands of this man, Lux was sure, and he wondered if she, like many others, trapped in a horrible prison she could not escape, had begun to blame herself for the tortures she endured. If he was to break her out of this self-destructive mindset, he would need to sever this perverse attachment with her tormentor.

"Visas, that man will never harm you again. You can stay with us, and I will protect you from him," Lux assured her confidently.

"No! You cannot stand against him! No Jedi can!" she cringed. "He is a power through which all life dies. He will consume everything in his path, Jedi and Sith alike, until the galaxy is barren and sterile".

"Then running won't do us any good, will it?" he said soothingly, pulling the gaping woman to her feet. "Trust me. We'll stop him...together".

She could only nod as her hand lingered on his. "I will follow you, Jedi Exile. My life is yours to do with as you will," she pledged.

"No," he said sharply. "Your life is your own. Never think otherwise. And in the future, just call me Lux".

"Of course, your word is my comm..." she began before catching herself and saying quietly. "I will do that...Lux".

* * *

"So Atton, how much longer till we get wherever it is we're going?" Kallian asked as she dropped into the copilot's seat.

He did not acknowledge her presence for a moment, his fingers busy punching a command into the navicomputer, but before Kallian could open her mouth to ask again, he said, "Not long now. We'll be coming up on Onderon in a few minutes. We're making pretty damn good time".

"How many days have we been in hyperspace again?" she asked in a voice laden with disbelief.

"I could drop you off, and you could float the rest of the way".

"Thanks, but I think I'll pass," she declined quickly. "You know, Lux said there was a huge battle on Onderon's moon between the Republic and the Mandalorians. You said you were involved in the wars...were you there?"

"Might have been," he said glibly as Kallian fixed him with a dangerous glare. "Fierfek woman, aren't I entitled to keep my past private?"

"I guess...but you want to tell me right? You just like playing hard to get," she grinned, receiving a similar smile from Atton.

"How could I keep your interest if I didn't make it a challenge, sister? Pretty much the whole of the Republic fleet was at Dxun. The Mandalorians used it as a training ground. They would send kids into the forest, and if they didn't get ripped apart by the exotic wildlife, they got to join the ranks. A good portion of their ground forces was still there when we laid siege. The objective was to destroy them obviously," he explained with a shrug.

"Mira said you guys burned the moon. Wasn't that a little harsh?"

"The place was wrecked anyway from all the ships that fell from orbit. The sky was black from all the dust in the air toward the end. It was kind of ironic, you know, fighting through a frozen jungle," he reminisced, his eyes seeming to look far away. "Even Revan didn't escape without a few parts missing. Her leg got blown off, and Malak had to drag her out of the jungle. Not surprising that he ordered an orbital bombardment after his precious Revan got injured".

Kallian was silent for a few moments, imagining what it would look like for a planet to be burned from space. She could not wrap her mind around how destruction on such a scale could be perpetrated and how it was even possible. She looked to her own artificial limb and wondered if the pain such an injury inflicted had influenced Revan's decision to annihilate the moon. "Were you around Revan at all during the battle?" she asked quietly.

"I was just a grunt. Closest I ever got to Revan was at one of the recruitment rallies on Coruscant before the Republic got involved," Atton answered before the console began beeping in an urgent fashion. "Looks like we're coming up on Onderon".

Atton pulled a lever back on the control panel as white streaks of light contracted back into the pinpricks of stars. Kallian's eyes widened as a gray shape stretched into the center of the viewscreen, so close that she could make out the lettering on its scarred hull. "Fierfek!" Atton screamed as he wrenched the controls to the side, the ship's engines groaning as she avoided the collision.

Kallian clutched at her chest as she watched more ships hurtle past the Ebon Hawk. By this time Atton had regained control of the ship and was weaving it in between the nonmoving spacecraft. "Are you trying to kill us?" she managed to growl in a quivering voice.

"I didn't expect to come out of hyperspace and find myself in the middle of a traffic jam," he snapped as more lights came on around the cockpit and a shrill alarm began sounding.

"What in the name of the Force is wrong now?" she yelled as Atton sent the Hawk into a dive.

"We got company," he grimaced before turning around and yelling toward the main hold. "Hey Lux, get off your ass and get on those guns unless you want me to land half a ship!"

Bright laser fire streaked past as the ship rocked, the reverberations of the Ebon Hawk's twin turrets shaking the superstructure. One fighter sped past before a blast of fire ripped through its wing, sending it spinning into a lumbering freighter. "Sorry buddy," Atton spoke to himself as he sent the Hawk rocketing through the resulting explosion. "Should've paid for some heavier shields on that rig. Won't live long in the Outer Rim otherwise".

"Why are they shooting at us?" Kallian asked as laser fire rocked the ship.

"Maybe they don't like our paint job. If I knew, don't you think I would do something about it?" he said through gritted teeth, aiming the ship toward a green world with numerous blackened scars. "We're never going to make it to Onderon at this rate. I'm going to set us down on Dxun, and we can regroup from there".

* * *

Revan could feel the fear suffocating this city, a blanket of tension and paranoia covering everything. The people walking its streets, both those laden with jewelry and those dressed in rags, exuded the same sense of gloom that cast a shadow over Kirkwall even as this planet's star shone bright in the sky. Frowning, she brought her new cloak closely around her body, not wishing to be the subject of the stares of those milling about.

She was apparently in an area known by the locals as the Gallows, a prison that had once been the tormentor of countless slaves. Revan could feel the fraying of the Force as she walked through the statue-lined courtyard, a legacy of death and pain having torn the very essence of the power that held the universe together. This place was still a prison but for a different kind of slave, one that was not kept out of simple greed but out of fear. It sickened her how low these beings could sink, not learning from the follies of those in the past, continuing their mindless march to destruction.

She cringed as she caught sight of the empty-eyed husks, the Force stripped from their lifeless bodies. Not even the worst of the Sith condemned so many to such a terrible punishment, to be living but cut off from all life. The corruption of this world...it made the darkness of Korriban seem positively pleasant. Only the open wound that was Malachor could compare.

The mages that had not been reduced to drooling perversions of life kept their eyes to the ground, avoiding the watchful gaze of their templar masters. She could feel the simmering anger and resentment hiding beneath their frightened eyes, but she knew that they would never escape their pathetic existence unless someone strong came to wake them from their stupor.

She saw the templars were looking at her suspiciously, her flowing black cloak out of place amidst polished steel armor and colorful robes. Her hood shadowed the mask that obscured her features, a necessary precaution given the way her general description had proliferated on this hole of a world. She would rather avoid unnecessary complications if she could.

Revan approached a guard standing before the ferry docks, the way to the city proper. Bedraggled travelers stood around him, reeking of impatience and desperation. He looked to her as she approached, his eyes narrowing as he saw hints of armor beneath her wind-swept cloak. "Let me warn you, stranger. We don't want anymore sodding refugees...and we won't tolerate you making any trouble either," he said patronizingly.

"I have business in the city. Do not trouble me," she ordered, her hand waving in front of his eyes in a hypnotic gesture.

"Of course you have business in the city," he stupidly repeated, allowing her to pass.

The impatient woman did not stop to hear the protests of the other refugees as the man struggled to regain control of his senses. Her purpose was clear: find the source of the corruption created by the ancient Sith so long ago. The Emperor had been here before, long enough to train a failed apprentice and most likely long before that. If the wound in the Force festering here was his doing, there must have been a reason for it.

A tavern was always the first place to look for information, and the one centrally located in the city slums was seedy enough that those inside would probably have a good ear to the ground. Thieves of course, would be quite interested in stories of ancient relics that could fetch a credit or two. Revan ordered a drink, more for appearances than anything else, and sat down at one of the establishment's many tables, the scarred wood sticky with grease and spilled drink.

The bar was alive with animated conversation and raucous laughter as hard men with browned, wrinkled skin from spending too much time in the sun celebrated the end of another day just like a hundred others. One particular party caught her attention, the group made up of a mixture of humans, elves, and a single dwarf, all of whom dressed in more varied clothing than the rest of the bar's clientele. They seemed to be having an argument of some kind, but that mattered little to her. What interested her was a memory in the blonde-haired man's mind, images of a girl with flaming-red hair and a personality to match. Perhaps this was not what she came for specifically, but she would let the Force guide her for now.

Varric shook his head and took another sip from the mug in front of him, the frothy brew bitter to the taste just like the tone of conversation. Fenris and Anders had launched into another pointless debate, arguing back and forth over freedom for the mages. Hawke was trying feebly to moderate the exchange as Aveline looked at both with evident disapproval. For a moment Varric wondered how his friend had even roped the woman into joining them. Isabella and Merrill did not seem to notice the argument at all, the two women giggling over some racy story Isabella was telling her.

Like always, his companions were oblivious to their surroundings, failing to notice the distinctively out of place visitor stalk through the Hanged Man. He swore he saw the barman tremble as he handed over the cloaked figure's drink, a shrouded head nodding at the frightened man. Studying the stranger, he saw glossy armor peak out beneath folds of cloth and the bottom half of a mask stained with blood red escape the shadow of its hood.

As the argument grew more heated, he watched as the figure failed to touch the drink, its attention focused on their little gathering. Whoever the stranger was, and Varric had a pretty good idea, they probably thought they were being real sly, but as a member of the cutthroat Merchant's Guild, Varric knew when he was being watched.

"Any mage will jump at the chance for power. Just look at yourself, possessed by a demon from the Fade. You have less of a reason to gripe than the lot of them," Fenris sneered.

"Yes, all mages use blood magic. All mages make pacts with demons. You let one bad experience warp your whole view of the situation," Anders shot back in a reproachful manner.

"One bad experience? I was a slave to a mage that sacrificed children to impress his friends in the imperial court!" he raged, tattoos glowing for a brief moment.

"Just like all mages, slaves to the Chantry!" Anders argued.

"For good reason. Freedom for mages means servitude for everyone else," he said sarcastically. "You only have to look at the witch sitting next to you to see the truth".

Anders glanced at the suddenly silent Merrill with a frown. "Not all of us are as naïve as her. We don't all use blood magic".

"Says the mage who made his body a vessel for some insane Fade spirit," Fenris retorted with a nasty grin.

"Leave Merrill out of your pissing contest," Isabella warned. "Some of us came here to drink and have fun, not listen to you two bitch like a pair of yapping dogs".

"Some of us have more to worry about than whose bed we'll be occupying later," Anders said bitingly.

Isabella glared, raising her hand before Hawke intervened. "Ladies please," he smirked as Anders scowled and Fenris grinned. "Let's leave mages and templars outside the Hanged Man, shall we?"

"You're a mage. You should be taking my side," Anders griped.

"I am a mage, but I also have the sense not to be an ass about it. Now calm down and finish your drink. We can argue later when we're not getting sloshed unless you want to pay for the damage to the premises this time," the smiling man warned in a good-natured voice.

Anders grumbled but said nothing more as Fenris adopted a smug expression. Isabella smiled at Hawke as Merrill blushed and whispered her thanks. Varric, however, had not been paying attention to the dispute. "Hawke...did you notice a rather shady character enter say about a half hour ago," he said casually, not turning to look at the man at his side.

"Should I have?" Hawk asked without concern, taking a long swig from his mug.

"I'd think with you being a mage and all that you'd keep a better eye out for danger," the dwarf said in a sarcastic whisper.

"Varric...we're at the Hanged Man. I'd be more suspicious of the people who came in here who didn't look a little shady," he sighed.

"Point taken. Well this particular character certainly seems interested in us. Don't look!" he whispered harshly as Hawke turned his head to the cloaked figure. "Don't want to scare him off".

"What's your plan then? Just wait him out?" Hawke asked, placing a hand to his mouth to muffle the words".

"Don't worry. We'll do this casually so he doesn't get spooked, but make sure he doesn't get any opportunity to run for it," he spoke carefully.

After several more minutes of forced small talk, Varric finally turned to the masked figure, a beaming smile on his face and a carefully adopted slur to his words. "You know friend, it's rude not to finish your drink in a place like this. The house might get insulted".

All eyes turned to the seated figure tucked away in the corner as Varric spoke; the figure's head slowly rising to look at the smiling dwarf. "I apologize, but I must inquire as to why you are designated to defend against slights aimed at this most august of establishments," the figure spoke, surprising most of those at the table with its feminine tone.

Varric found her voice strange, airy and light but also filled with harsh chill. She did not sound entirely human, a certain quality to her voice seeming almost artificial like a golem. "You have me there, friend. To be honest, I was curious...I don't think I've ever seen you here before," he said smoothly

"You know everyone that frequents this place, I assume?" the cloaked woman asked mockingly.

"Only the ones worth knowing," he said with a grin.

"Then it seems I am sadly beneath your notice," she said with finality, turning away from the cautious group.

"Now I wouldn't say that," he said with a smile. "Why don't you join us, so we can get to know each other better? I'll buy you a drink that's more to your liking".

"I must regretfully decline your kind offer," she answered with a hint of annoyance.

"A shame," Varric shrugged. "You see my contacts told me an interesting tidbit of information this morning about a strange person in the Gallows who entered the city without even bribing the guards, and what was interesting about this person, you see, is that she matched the description of a rather famous individual from the days of the blight".

"Did she indeed," the woman said, all humor gone from her voice as her words were like ice. Hawke and his comrades were now focused on her, their eyes filled with suspicion and confusion as to their friend's meaning.

"Varric, what are you talking about?" Hawke asked, throwing a quick glance to his friend.

"Sorry Hawke, didn't get a chance to tell you until now. I only had suspicions," he said cheerfully. "Flowing black cloak, strange robes, armor like no other in Thedas, and a mask colored like blood with only blackness where your eyes should be. You're the spitting image".

Everyone at the table had heard the whispered rumors, terrifying stories banned by the Chantry under threat of heresy of the demon that stalked Ferelden during the days of the blight. Some even said that this monstrous evil had destroyed the last remains of Andraste, a grievous sin that would surely turn the Maker's gaze from humanity forever. "And what do these rumors say, hmm?" she asked sweetly as fire reflected in the opaque black of her visor. It was almost like she knew what they were thinking.

"Oh nothing too exciting. Only that a maleficar corrupted the Warden, murdered every single templar in the Ferelden Circle, destroyed Andraste's ashes, killed more nobles than the Antivan Crows, and brought down an Exalted March on a land still recovering from the blight. I miss anything?" he smirked.

"Perhaps the killing of a Grand Cleric a few weeks ago...oh and the desecration of Andraste's temple in the Frostbacks some time before that. Other than those minor omissions, those rumors you have heard about this person are generally accurate," she answered dryly.

"I'll have to take that into account," Varric remarked cheerfully.

"I must ask though, if you are right and this person is present in Kirkwall and say that this person is indeed as dangerous as your stories indicate. Hypothetically speaking then, if this person was seated before you and growing increasingly annoyed, would it not be rather foolish to continue to pester her?" she asked sweetly.

Everyone around Varric was suddenly on their guard, the unspoken threat obvious to all present. Even Varric, despite the coolness he displayed in even the most harrowing situations was a tad on edge. Fenris though, was the first to speak up, "So you are the one these mages speak so glowingly of and the magisters toast back home, the demon Revan".

"I said hypothetically if I was this person, did I not?" she responded.

"Don't play games, maleficar!" he sneered. "Everyone here knows what you are".

"And what am I?" she questioned coldly.

"An enemy of the Chantry for one," Aveline observed, knowing the woman was dangerous.

Revan laughed, the chilling sound causing all present to shiver. "Your pathetic Chantry is beneath my notice. My enemies have power beyond your imagination".

"Said the stereotypical villain before she began her clichéd monologue," Varric said under his breath.

"Said the cheeky dwarf before he was blasted by a handful of lightning," Revan responded in kind.

"Let's leave that part out, shall we? We can't have the only comic relief dying, can we?" he grinned, throwing up his hands in surrender.

All parties present suddenly realized that the whole bar was now watching them, wide eyes and gaping mouths making it obvious that they had heard Fenris' charge of 'maleficar'. "We seem to be attracting an unwanted audience," Revan stated matter-of-factly. "This conversation is not your business".

To Varric and his friends' surprise, the tavern's clientele all droned dumbly, "This conversation is not our business," and went back to their drinks.

Aveline was immediately standing as the rest looked on in confusion. "Blood magic," she whispered with a dark look. "Are you always so open with your corruption?"

Fenris gripped his sword as he gritted his teeth in rage. It was another good day, as he could cut down another of these hateful mages. He stopped moving forward as Merrill said quietly, "That was not blood magic".

Both Fenris and Aveline looked at her incredulously, but Anders nodded his head in agreement. "Blood magic leaves signs. You can feel the stretching and thinning of the Veil. I felt nothing just now".

All eyes turned to Hawke for confirmation, but he threw up his hands in a gesture of ignorance. "Hey, don't look at me. I just use magic to blow stuff up. Those two are the experts".

"Well it certainly looked like blood magic," Aveline said doubtfully to Anders. "If it was not, what in Andraste's name was it?"

"I think I might know something about that," Anders said before pausing.

"Well...don't leave us in suspense," Hawke grumbled.

"When I was a Warden, I spent some time with Kallian at Vigil's Keep, you know, the Warden Commander and alleged mistress of King Alistair. A lot of the mages look up to her for standing against the Chantry, but whatever power she had, it wasn't like any magic I've ever seen. She could imitate some techniques like force magic, you know, telekinetic stuff, but she had no connection to the Fade and couldn't perform the simplest spell".

"Then what was she?" Hawke asked impatiently as Revan looked to the renegade mage with great interest.

"Don't know," he conceded. "I mean, she wasn't exactly the conversational sort. Every other word she spoke was an insult directed at me, but anyway, what was truly disturbing about her power was how she could read others' thought and know things before they happened. When she looked at you, it was almost like your mind was an open book. It felt spooky...like she was controlling you".

"And what does that matter?" Aveline interjected warily. "Even if it is not true blood magic, she still manipulated the minds of everyone here. The effect is the same".

"You are making assumptions about things you cannot possibly understand," Revan interrupted. "I did not force them to do anything. I simply influenced them to ignore us. The choice was their own".

"What a worthless explanation," Fenris snapped. "Lie and deceive all you want, but we are not blind!"

"Let's calm down, shall we?" Hawke said as he placed a hand on Fenris' shoulder. "It might not be a great idea to antagonize the crazy woman".

"Way to be the voice of reason, Hawke," Varric said dryly.

Revan ignored them, instead turning to Anders and asking, "So you knew my apprentice. What did she tell you of our power?"

"Next to nothing. I don't think she trusted humans that much. When I asked, she brushed me off and said a brainless shem couldn't understand anyway," he shrugged.

"True enough. Explaining the Force to those who lack its touch would be like teaching philosophy to swine," she declared scathingly.

"I've heard pigs are quite intelligent beasts," Anders grinned, his smile faltering as he stared into the unreadable mask of Revan. "Anyway, she mentioned this 'Force' a few times, but it almost sounded like a religion coming from her. Why don't you try us then, we might actually understand".

"How could you? You see the world in the material. People are blood, flesh, and bone. The world is dirt, water, and rock. Everything is separate, existing on its own. The world you perceive is a lie," she explained. "We are not individuals, we are all connected by the Force, a great web that binds everything together. We are beings of light, each subtly shaping and forming the world around us. You lack the Force, so you can never see the universe as it truly is".

"I think someone has been chewing too much deathroot," Varric said under his breath.

"Condescend if you want. It means nothing to me," Revan said sweetly. "I came here for information and nothing more".

"Well we can certainly help with that. What do you need?" Varric asked, perking up.

"Wait, you actually intend to help this blood mage?" Fenris questioned loudly, his green eyes filled with fury. "You may wish to serve this bitch as mindless slaves, but I will have no part in it".

Fenris stood up, kicking his chair away, and began stalking to the exit when Hawke caught up to him, an armored gauntlet holding his thin wrist. "Fenris," he whispered in a pleading voice. "No harm can come from seeing what she wants, and it may even help us if we find ourselves enemies one day. I need you here if things start getting crazy. Please".

Fenris grimaced, his eyes daring from Hawke to Revan as his face contorted into a vicious scowl. He shook his arm free from Hawke's grip, his expression softening as he looked back at him but spite still evident in his voice as he spoke harshly, "Do as you wish, idiot mage. I will be there to say I told you so when this blows up in your face".

Revan rolled her eyes under the intimidating mask, but she decided to humor them, "I certainly doubt you can help me, but...this city, the dark side is strong here. I need to know if something happened here long ago like...a great battle where many were massacred or any kind of event that led to death on a staggering scale. There is a wound in the Force present here, and I need to know how it came to be".

"You mean like a tear in the Veil?" Anders asked with a confused look.

"I do not know what the Veil is," Revan admitted impatiently. "I come from far away, and some of the things people speak of here are...strange to me".

"That certainly explains that garish outfit you're wearing. And I was going to ask for your tailor too," Varric commented before several dangerous looks from his companions silenced him.

"The Veil is what separates the Fade from the material world. When great battles are fought or powerful blood magic is used, the Veil can be sundered and let demons loose in the real world. It sounds a little like this 'wound' you were describing," Merrill explained. "Kirkwall, or Sundermount rather, was the sight of the last stand of my people against the humans. So many died there that the dead are still restless on the mountain".

"It sounds promising, but I'm sensing a powerful darkness far beneath this city. Are there any episodes in this city's history that fit the theme?"

"Kirkwall was once the center of the slave trade in the Tevinter Imperium. They say so many slaves were sacrificed in the magisters' blood rituals that the streets were like rivers of blood," Varric recalled as Revan growled.

"The murder of slaves...only the truly depraved could murder one who is bound to their will and defenseless," she spat. "Disgusting. This place truly sickens me".

"Have something against slavery?" Hawke asked, probing for more information from the mysterious woman.

"You could say that," Revan said glibly without explanation, earning a calculating look from Fenris.

"And yet you make slaves of those whose minds you control," he said bitterly, earning a warning look from Hawke.

Revan stared at the petulant elf from behind the transparisteel of her visor, fury rising at the very suggestion that she would tolerate the violation of another being's mind in such a sick manner. She could see into the mind of the tattooed elf though and experienced the scars still healing from the past, so she controlled her rage for the moment.

"Wait, Hawke!" Varric exclaimed excitedly. "What about those notes we discovered talking about the Enigma of Kirkwall?"

Hawke nodded in agreement, " You might have something there, old friend".

"What is this 'Enigma of Kirkwall'?" the cloaked woman asked curiously.

"Notes from a trio of explorers who were searching for the answer to why the magisters needed to sacrifice so many slaves after the First Blight," Hawke explained. "The notes are sketchy on details, but they seemed to have found something beneath the city, something terrible. It might be what you're looking for".

"Can I see these notes?" she asked eagerly.

"Of course, my dear," Varric said gregariously. "I would ask one, small favor in return though...let us come with you when you search for...whatever it is you're looking for".

"This is not a treasure hunt," Revan reminded the dwarf in an annoyed tone but was cut off before she could say more.

"Treasure is good, but I'm far more interested in a good story. Whatever's down there is the stuff of legends, and I'd like a chance to tell it to others one day...the complete version," the dwarf insisted.

Revan looked at the dwarf and then to this Hawke, not finding any reason to deny to request other than the loss of a quiet atmosphere. "Done," she said simply.

* * *

Kallian stared down the barrel of a blaster pistol, its owner holding it only inches from her face. Her eyes flicked up from the black metal of the weapon to an equally black visor similar to the mask that Revan wore. Her lightsaber was in her hand, but she did not dare try to activate it as their ambusher brought another pistol to bear against the remainder of the party. She felt Lux stop edging forward as the weapon was pointed at him, his calculating thoughts searching for some way out of this standoff. Kallian felt the presence of others watching them close by in the jungle, and she knew that the only ways out of the situation were a blaster bolt to the brain or an attempt at peaceful negotiations.

The being holding her at gunpoint was clad in garish red armor, leaving no flesh uncovered. The plates were decorated with symbols in an unknown language and a brilliant white image of some unknown creature's skull, twin tusks arraying its fearsome mouth. The warrior was wearing a leather half skirt around its waist and ragged cloth around its neck complete with braids of hair descending from one shoulder. She felt anger rise within Lux as he laid eyes on the braided hair, but the reason for his rage was unknown to her.

She was quickly informed only a moment later when the warrior spoke in a slightly mechanical voice. His tone was haughty and almost noble in a way, like the way the highborn spoke back home. "Noticed my trophies, Jedi? It almost felt like slaughtering nerfs, the way those Jedi brats charged us without a brain in their heads. A Mandalorian can respect bravery, but not reckless stupidity".

"_It's human hair_," Kallian thought with revulsion. "_Maybe the stories they tell about Mandalorians are true_". Besides Mira, this was the first Mandalorian she had ever seen. He was impressive in a way, standing straight with such a regal bearing, but the presence of the scalps was sickening to behold.

"Mandalorians are always talking about honor. What honor is there in killing children?" Lux spat from behind, his voice filled with fury. Kallian thought he would reach out with the Force and strangle the man before them.

"I honored them by giving them a good death in battle. Would you have me shame them by denying them a fight? You Jedi have strange codes indeed," the warrior spoke again mockingly before his voice took on a harder edge. "You send your padawan learners into battle two years before our children come of age. If you fail to adequately train them, the fault when they die does not lie with us".

Another voice suddenly spoke up from the woods, the voice female in tenor. "You are so quick to condemn us Jedi, but I saw none of your own spare our warriors whom by your society would be judged as no more than children".

Kallian turned to look at the newcomer, a woman covered in sky blue armor emblazoned with yellow streaks like rays from a star. From the armored head tails, she was obviously Twi'lek, her unmasked visage revealing a chalk-white face and dark, distrustful eyes, one covered by the scope of a rifle. Revan had told her that the Mandalorians were not one species but many, united by a single culture. They were like the opposite of the Dalish, their original species dead and gone but their beliefs and way of life still enduring.

"You accuse me of lacking integrity, of being without honor, but I could have killed you easily, Jedi, and did not. I thought I would at least give you the opportunity to explain what you are doing here on _our_ world," the Mandalorian stated with menace in his voice. "I could easily let my sister put a bolt in your skull if you keep insulting our people".

"I thought you guys cleared out the lot of these Mandalorians," Kallian hissed as she turned her head slightly to look at Atton and Lux.

"Not for lack of trying, apparently," Atton grimaced.

"Oh, they tried alright," the Twi'lek spat. "Mandalore the Preserver has gathered us here to rebuild our people. It will not be long before we restore what was lost to Revan and her Republic".

Kallian listened to the woman boast and was struck by the absolute certainty in her voice. The way she talked about this new Mandalore with something like reverence reminded her of how many people would speak of the Maker. Mandalore was mortal though, as her vision had clearly shown.

Mira spoke then, her words faltering at first as she uttered a tongue that had not left her mouth in years, but then coming through stronger. Both the Mandalorians looked surprised as she continued speaking, the sharp quality of the words fitting for a warrior people. Kallian could not understand the language, but she knew through the Force that she was negotiating on their behalf.

"Su cuy'gar!" both of the Mandalorians spoke suddenly in bright voices. Mira seemed to relax and spoke the same words to them. "We'll take you to see Mandalore. Perhaps he will be interested in hearing your story".

He lowered his weapon and beckoned for them to follow. As they marched along, Kallian fell in step with Mira who looked a little conflicted. "What was that about?" she asked curiously.

"They were just greeting one of their own who has returned. So you're still alive...that's what the final bit was," she explained.

"Do they know you?" she asked, a little confused at Mira's answer.

"Mandalorians are a hard people. When you go to war, you don't expect to see your loved ones again. So when you come back still living, it's like a blessing. That's what they mean by it," she continued. "The current Mandalore has a higher opinion of Jedi than most Mandalorians, or so they say. I asked them to let us speak to him."

"And they just agreed to that?"

"Why not? A Mandalore wouldn't last long if he wasn't willing to talk with his people. Mandalore _leads_ us, he doesn't rule us," Mira chided her.

The two Mandalorians led them to a dilapidated compound, the jungle looking like it only needed a few days to swallow the decaying buildings. Many more of the armored warriors were about, the differences in their armor identifying clan, personal achievements, and necessary allowances for the dozens of species that made up the Mandalorians. Most wore blue, red, or yellow armor in a style similar to the first two they had encountered, but others wore more eclectic variants decorated with spikes and wrapped strips of leather. These were more colorful, taking on many different shades of green, orange, along with the normal colors. All wore the T-shaped visor though, many of the opaque masks looking up at them as they passed before returning to their work. They almost seemed uninterested in their presence.

They finally got to a hangar, the metal roof sagging from years of terrible storms. A lone figure stood outside it, hands buried deep in the circuitry of a vicious-looking craft, wings stretching forth like talons ready to grasp prey. They waited as he finished his work, the red-armored Mandalorian speaking to him in their native language. He waved the pair away, and they were left alone with the gray-armored individual.

"So Kelborn tells me he found some stray Jedi sneaking around our base," the gray-armored man spoke in a low, harsh voice. He turned to them, revealing a helmeted visage with the familiar T-shaped visor. Tubes stretched from the underside of his helmet to his back, crisscrossing the drab, gray armor that was unadorned by anything but pits and scars in the metal. "I am Mandalore. I assume you are our uninvited guests".

"Believe me, if we had a choice we would never have asked for your hospitality. We were attacked by fighters as we approached Onderon," Lux spoke in a patronizing tone. Kallian could not believe the way he sounded as it was like he wanted them to be killed.

"Figures, there's a civil war brewing planetside. They've been holding up ships in orbit for weeks now. They wouldn't want a Jedi to come and spoil all their fun, now would they?" he said seriously, not rising to the bait. "Do I know you?"

"General Lux Vulnus. I'm sure we met on the battlefield at some point during the wars," he said coldly.

"You survived them then. That says something about you".

"And what is that?" Lux asked warily.

"That you're either a bloody coward or a damn good fighter. We'll have to see which," Mandalore spoke as Lux bristled. "And what about you, girl? You seem a little young to have fought in the wars".

"Kallian Tabris. I wasn't around for the war, no," she spoke guardedly. "My master fought in them though".

"So did a lot of masters. From the looks of you though, you've shed blood. Haven't seen a lot of Jedi with injuries like that. Either they're in one piece or dead," Mandalore said, his visor turned to her prosthetic arm.

"A Sith did it," she said glibly.

"I've met a few Sith in my day. Fought a whole load of them with an old friend during the civil war. Most were cannon fodder with energy swords, nothing to write home about," he told her as she glared at him over the slight.

"The Sith I fought was on the same level as my master, and unless you think Revan is some pushover, that should tell you something," Kallian said in a self-satisfied voice.

That got Mandalore's attention as he looked her over carefully. "Revan, huh? Greatest warrior I've ever seen, maybe that the galaxy's ever seen. Did you kill this Sith you fought?"

"Well...no," she admitted.

"Revan was fighting entire battalions of Mandalorians when she was still a kid. I never thought she was the type to have the patience for training an apprentice. What'd she see in you?" he asked mockingly.

"Good question," the Handmaiden mumbled under her breath, just audible enough to hear as Kallian scowled at her.

"It sounds like you admire her," Lux observed.

"I admire strength. I admire cunning. I admire audacity. Revan had all these things and more. If she had been born a Mandalorian, I don't know what we would do with ourselves because we would have conquered the galaxy by now," Mandalore laughed.

"Or you would all be dead when she betrayed you like she did to us," the Handmaiden spat.

"If anything, Revan was too loyal. She saw the weakness of your Republic, the cowardice, and vowed to save you from it. We marched toward the Core unopposed until Revan stood against us and made you fight. Even after the Republic and the Jedi betrayed her, she still fought for you, destroying the Star Forge and the traitor Malak all for your sake. If you say otherwise, you're a fool," he growled harshly.

"We need to get to Onderon," Lux cut in, changing the subject. "If you are a friend to the Jedi, we could use your help".

Mandalore chuckled at those words, his laughter grim and dark. "I'm no friend to the Jedi, _General_. Why should I help you?"

"You said you admire strength. The one who destroyed your forces at Malachor was not Revan, but me," he spoke in a voice like ice as Kallian practically gasped. He really was going to sign their death warrant. "I gave the order to deploy the mass shadow generator to end the war, and for that, I was exiled by the Jedi and stripped of the Force. I ask for your help as one who has crossed blades with your people. You should be able to respect that".

Mandalore stared down the stone-faced man as Kallian tensed, but his response surprised her. "Indeed, I can. Doing what is necessary to achieve victory is surely worthy of esteem, but that's still not a reason to get you to that worthless planet". Lux was about to object when Mandalore continued sharply, "Show me you have honor as well...that you are worthy of following. Many men are given the title 'general', but very few actually earn it. I would have followed Revan to the ends of the galaxy and back. You might not be her, but you might do as a substitute".

* * *

Kallian leaned against a pillar of rubble, watching as Lux prepared the Mandalorian fighter for its trip to Onderon. He was taking the Echani and the blind Sith with him along with Mandalore himself who insisted on going. She had warned him about letting the snake close to him, but he had brushed her off, saying he needed to learn more about her. Since their training session, he had been a little distant, making her think that she might have offended him in some way. It mattered little; he was only good for his knowledge of the Force. She was not looking for friends though she would not object if some found her. "What do you want, Zevran?" she asked with a sigh.

The assassin dropped to the ground beside her, bearing several new bruises and minor cuts. "I though I might try my hand at some sparring with our hosts. I wouldn't recommend it," he remarked airily. "I also thought I could get my hands on some of their armor, but they were rather reluctant to part with it".

"Mira doesn't seem to be having any trouble," Kallian observed, looking at the woman now outfitted in green armor with jagged purple highlights in the shape of lightning.

"It seems I would have to join a clan. From what I've heard, which is admittedly very little, the requirements for initiation seem rather...unpleasant. After my experience with the Crows, you can probably understand that I would rather avoid that kind of torture," he explained with a smirk.

"Well, I guess you can think about it. We got all the time in the galaxy out here".

"That might be true...if you never plan to return to Ferelden. Tell me my dear, do you intend to stay out here even after our quest to find these lost Jedi reaches an end?" he questioned lightly, the seriousness that was hidden behind his false nonchalance all too apparent to her.

"What do I have to return to?" she said more to herself, the memories of Alistair suddenly filling her mind. "No one cares that we're elves out here. We might have a better life, and why are you asking anyway...what do you plan to do?"

"I might tell you my plans, love, if you agree to be part of them," he said lasciviously, earning him a glare from the fiery-haired woman. "In truth, I do not think I would return. It would pain me exceedingly to never see my glorious Antiva City again, but I simply must see Coruscant. How can a planet named after a jewel fail to impress, no?"

"I don't know what I want to do, Zevran. If I never go back, it's almost like I'm running away...abandoning my people," she admitted as her icy eyes filled with sadness.

"You only have one life to live Kallian, and then we are consigned to the void for all eternity," he mused. "Why don't you live it for yourself? I plan to find any number of willing women and men, plentiful drink, and good friends after my services are no longer needed and find my own way. Of course, you are welcome to join me".

"I think any path you choose will be a little too fast for me. All that debauchery bores me, you know," she spoke haughtily.

"Think about it, and I'm sure the answer will come to you. The Force can show you the future, no?" he sighed, walking over to where Mira was trying out new blasters.

"The future's always in motion," she said to herself, her mind drifting off to memories of Ferelden and the family she left behind. A disturbance in the Force woke her from the dream, dispelling both the blissful and sorrowful memories of home. She drew her lightsaber, activating it just in time as a red blade clashed against her hissing saber. Kallian looked into red-tinted glass, her opponent's face completely covered by a monstrous mask.

Kallian's leg lashed out as she pushed herself off the ground, her boot connecting with the knee of her opponent. She felt the joint collapse as an audible crack filled the air like the report of a blaster. The black clad assassin tried one last desperate attack, but Kallian grabbed his saber arm with her clawed hand, mechanical fingers twisting and crushing flesh and bone. Even with what surely was an excruciatingly painful wound, the masked figure still made no sound, only a muffled gurgle emerging as she stabbed her evening sky colored saber into its throat.

Letting the body drop, she saw several Mandalorians rushing past armed with vicious looking blasters and blades. A Twi'lek in blue armor, the one from earlier she supposed, called out to her and said, "What are you doing wasting time on that corpse, Jedi? There are Sith to kill!"

As she walked out into the clearing between the hangar and the barracks, it became apparent that the invasion of Sith assassins was no reason to panic for the Mandalorians but rather a welcome distraction from an otherwise monotonous day. The pathetic Sith tried defending themselves with their lightsabers, but the Mandalorians wasted no time firing bolts that would merely be deflected right back at them. Disruptor fire filled the air, bodies disintegrating as the screeching red beams shot right through the Sith. Others used archaic-looking shotguns that launched salvos of burning metal adept at chewing up anything they were fired at.

The Mandalorians thinned out the ranks of the Sith with methodical precision, not satisfied until their bodies were so riddled with holes or burnt into dust that not even the full power of the Force could restore them. An earsplitting roar attracted her attention away from most of the carnage into an even more frightening scene. Mandalore stood there amidst a dozen smoking corpses, the weapon he held in both hands like nothing she had ever seen. It spat blue fire so fast that lightsabers were useless against it, a few stray bolts being deflected away before the unfortunate Sith were overwhelmed and blasted apart.

Lux stood a few feet away from him, only slightly fewer bodies at his feet. He was just finishing up when her eyes turned to him. He stabbed back with his blue lightsaber and impaled an assassin right through the gut, pulling it out only a second later. As the Sith clutched the wound in what seemed like shock, Lux nonchalantly flicked the tip of his blade through the throat of the Sith charging at him. It collapsed at his feet, but he was no longer facing that way. Perhaps granting mercy to the still standing Sith, he decapitated it with an elegant strike, the blue blade retracting even as he held the curved hilt in the air.

Kallian could only gape at his skill, momentarily forgetting that a few dozen warriors armed with, in the words of Revan, such uncivilized weapons could kill so many Force users so quickly. She flinched when an armored gauntlet clapped her on the shoulder, a yellow-armored Mandalorian laughing as she said, "Perhaps we should keep you Jedi around if it's always this exciting".

* * *

Brianna watched as Lux leaned against the Mandalorian Basilisk, his eyes covered by his forearm. It seemed that nothing would be simple as the trekked across the galaxy, searching for the lost Jedi. Onderon was now embroiled in a civil war, the presence of their ship being used as justification for a declaration of war against the Republic. Without Onderon's aid in rebuilding the shattered ecosystem of Telos, the reclamation project there would surely fail. It seemed that this General Vaklu was conspiring against the Republic, at least according to Kavar, his support rumored to be a mysterious Sith hidden in the shadows.

She knew that Lux was not as upset over this misfortune than regarding his short meeting with Master Kavar, someone he described as one of his oldest and closest friends. Lux had asked him about his trial and exile, and Kavar agreed to explain the circumstances surrounding their decision, but Vaklu's men had interfered. It must have hurt him to be so close to learning the truth that haunted him all these years and yet have it snatched away as it lay within his grasp.

It disturbed her, the way Kavar had felt toward her friend, almost as if he wished the Exile would have stayed forgotten. She had gradually been opening herself to the power of the Force, a growing belief that more Jedi were needed to stand against the rising Sith, but the flashes of insight the Force showed her made her question many of the things she previously believed. What had Lux done that could make such a valued friend, a brother even, turn against him? Was she wrong about the Jedi, about Mistress Atris?

She approached Lux and said quietly, "I am sure Master Kavar will contact you soon. I was told that the Jedi value patience highly. I hope it is not presumptuous, but I would advise exactly that: patience".

Lux looked up at her and smiled, "I'm glad that you've been thinking about Jedi lessons. Maybe soon, I can teach you the very same. Visas and Kallian too, for that matter".

Brianna frowned, casting a scathing glance at the hooded Sith apprentice. She did not understand why Lux allowed that wicked thing to have a place among them. She would surely show her true colors sooner or later as a servant of darkness. It was folly to let this obvious spy travel with them, especially given the few Jedi that yet remained. Even the loss of one would be a great tragedy, but if Lux died...it would be a heavy blow to her, perhaps one she could not endure.

The way she turned her head to him and pressed her lips into that snakelike-smile when he talked to her also annoyed the Echani. Surprisingly, much of the irritation she felt was directed at Lux himself. If the fool wanted to flirt with an avowed enemy, one who was obviously just trying to ingratiate herself in their party as a spy and possible assassin, she should let him live with the consequences. That was what she told herself, but she resolved to protect him, even if he proceeded to take actions that undermined his reputation as a brilliant general.

Lux saw her expression darken and sighed, "I know how you feel about Visas and to a certain extent about Kallian. If you talked to her, you would learn how brutal her life has been. I think if she is treated with kindness and respect, she'll come back to the light".

"I have no desire to converse with that woman, and is it not a possibility that she is merely putting on a front to gain your sympathy? The Sith are manipulative creatures who would think nothing of using such foul tricks," she insisted, silver eyes flashing with anger.

"It's possible, I'll admit, but we're not going to get anywhere with her if we don't give her some measure of trust," he spoke carefully. "But I also want you to trust me. Trust that I have some idea of what I'm doing and that I'm not some bumbling idiot. I know that we'll be hard to do, but at least try".

The Handmaiden smiled at his pleading face, unable to say no to it. "I trust you, but I refuse to put any faith in that woman. I will keep watch over her; it will be better if the two of us are on the lookout for anything suspicious".

"Close enough," Lux shrugged with a grin.

"We have traveled together for some time, yes? I would like to think we have grown closer...become friends perhaps," she spoke slowly, avoiding his eyes. "I told you I needed time to think about your offer, and I have taken more than enough I think. If you are willing, I would like to train to become a Jedi".

Lux looked surprised for a moment, but he quickly adopted a wide smile and placed both hands on her shoulders. "Perhaps we're friends? We've been friends for a long time now, or at least I thought so. I'd be honored to teach you the ways of the Force".

"If I am to break my vow to Mistress Atris...it will be a clean one. Please call me Brianna from now on...Master," she said shyly.

"None of that formal stuff, please," he shuddered. "I'll only do it if you agree to call me Lux...or any other snarky nickname you may have for me".

"Of course," she blurted out with a series on nods.

"Message coming in from Dxun," Mandalore interrupted in that harsh voice of his.

Lux took the comlink, wary that there was another problem. It would be just their luck. "Lux here...I hope you're calling with good news",

Kallian's sarcastic voice came through the crackling static, saying, "Just giving you an update. We're taking the Hawk and heading to Korriban. We thought we could cut down on some time wasted while you guys search for Kavar".

"Wait, did you say Korriban. No! Absolutely not! You can't go there alone!" he insisted loudly, everyone's attention turning to him.

"We already lifted off. We'll be in hyperspace in a few seconds," her annoyed voice sounded in his ear. "We're not children that need supervision".

"Just wait a few minutes. The situation here is going to take some time to get resolved, and we're just going to head back to Dxun in the meantime," he argued.

"Then you can just sit back and admire the jungle for a week or so. We..." her voice cut off before a colder voice took its place. "Lux, you may cease with your unfounded worry. I will be watching over the girl for the moment. I believe her training will benefit from what she finds on the ancient capital of the Sith".

Lux trusted Kreia, but that did not mean that he did not harbor suspicions. She seemed to take no notice of Kallian in the past, dismissing her as another's apprentice and therefore not her concern. The sudden interest was uncharacteristic of her. "You'll keep her safe?"

"Revan destroyed the Sith on Korriban. The survivors have since abandoned the desolate world to stalk the edges of the Unknown Regions. The only thing she will have to fear there...is her own weakness," Kreia spoke cryptically.

Lux wanted to say that was exactly what he feared, but he caught himself, aware of how hypocritical it would sound after declaring his trust of Visas. He grimaced and opened his mouth to voice another objection but the words caught in his throat. "Just be careful, would you". He knew immediately that it was a mistake. He called on the Force, trying to catch some glimmer of the future, but all he felt was calm, no foreboding sense of danger. "May the Force be with you," he whispered into the comlink as the line went dead.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the delay in getting this chapter out. Next one should come out faster. This is more of a transition chapter, so there is a lot of dialogue. Next chapter should be more plot heavy, or at least have more combat in it. Thanks to all who read and to Fayneir and MrEmperor for the reviews. Fayneir, when Lux states that any Force ability that is offensive in nature is corrupting, especially Force lightning, that is just his opinion. Lux despises any use of the Force that hurts or kills people, and he does not want Kallian to use them either. On the other hand, he can justify wanton slaughter using conventional weapons if its for the right reasons. MrEmperor, humor is always hard for me to do because I do not think I am really any good at it. Kallian's struggle with the dark side will probably reach its climax in the next chapter, so I hope you enjoy that.**


	11. Where the Light is as Darkness

Bright blue clouds rushed by the cockpit as the Ebon Hawk streaked through hyperspace. Kallian sat in the copilot's chair, her one real hand wedged against her cheek as she sighed in boredom. Atton sat next to her, busy fiddling with some instrument or another. "I can see what you mean," Kallian spoke up, startling him.

"Sorry, what?" he said, looking at her with a confused expression.

"What you said about flying ships through hyperspace getting old after awhile. You were right," she sighed.

"So the luster of space is finally wearing off for you, huh? I could plot a course in for Coruscant if you want to have some real fun. I doubt Korriban's going to impress much better than Nar Shaddaa or Dxun," he said dryly.

"I'd probably just be disappointed. I thought getting off my planet would mean getting away from all its problems, but I see the same things...poverty, racism, crime, among other things. Sometimes it's even worse out here," she mused.

"Welcome to the galaxy, sister," Atton said snidely, earning him a withering look. "It's funny, we're heading to Korriban, which is definitely on the short list of worst places in this shithole of a galaxy to be. You'd think all the evil in the universe was there by the way the Jedi talk, left behind by the Sith. They're wrong. You can't take a walk on any planet in the Republic without meeting a handful of scumbags, and even if the Sith were gone, it wouldn't change".

"Hey, that's not much of a problem. Last I checked, scumbags and Sith are easily taken care of with a lightsaber," Kallian said with a smile.

"If only, if only," he shook his head. "I don't think Revan could have cleaned up Nar Shaddaa with half the Republic fleet behind her. Even if Malak pulled a Taris, those bastards would find some way to survive".

Kallian frowned, not really understanding the reference, but did not comment on it. Sometimes these people seemed to forget she had not even known there were other worlds besides her own a scarce few years ago. "You know Atton, I wanted to ask you for a while," she began as he looked at her warily, "why can't I feel you in the Force?"

"Damn, and I thought you were going to confess your undying love for me too. Life's full of disappointments, I guess," he smirked.

Kallian sighed and shook her head, annoyance coloring her words as she said, "Believe me, you'll feel better when you tell me. I'm sure it will be a liberating and cathartic experience that will solidify our friendship as we jump headlong into a battle against impossible odds".

"Cathartic experience, I like the sound of that," Atton grinned before a shadow passed over his face. "After Malachor, Revan turned against the Republic, and we sure as hell weren't defending the Jedi who abandoned us. I was trained to hide my thoughts and feelings from the Jedi, so that I could capture or eliminate them. I was good at it too; I used to relish the dumb looks on their faces when they realized they couldn't influence my mind".

"So you were an assassin. So what, Zevran killed tons of people, and so have I...innocents even," she remarked with a shrug.

"I'm just giving you context to the story. Anyway, Revan wanted Jedi to join her if possible, so assassination was always a last ditch thing. I remember taking padawans captive, some of them just little kids, and torturing them until their masters would surrender. It's easy to turn to the dark side when you see someone you care about in pain," he explained emotionlessly. "There was one Jedi, a woman, who I met when the war was near its end. She told me that the Force was with me, and when the Sith found out, they would come for me and do the same to me as I had done to others. I heard stories of other Force sensitives disappearing from the ranks, but I was blinded by hatred for the Jedi, a kriffing idiot. I tortured her, and when she was at the point of death, she broke through my mental barriers and invaded my mind, unlocking the Force within. I saw the pain I had caused, all the lives I had destroyed...it was too much, so I murdered her. After that, I ran for it and curled up in the darkest hole I could find. I wanted nothing to do with Jedi or Sith anymore".

"Atton, can you lower your barriers? I want to see what's in your mind, experience what you felt," she asked quietly after a long silence.

"Didn't you listen to what I told you?" he questioned angrily. "You know I don't like Jedi messing around in my mind, and now you know why".

"Please, I'll be gentle. I will open my mind to you too, a fair trade," she insisted.

He sighed and nodded curtly as Kallian pressed her own forehead to his, expanding her presence in the Force and connecting to his. Atton flinched, but Kallian kept her presence reassuring, maintaining a calm and peaceful aura. They stayed like that for several moments before Kallian said, "You loved this woman, and you hated yourself for what you did to her. It ate away at you, haunting your thoughts. You thought that if I knew, I would hate you, condemn you. That's why you kept it a secret, but I don't think that. I understand better than others what it's like to hate yourself, to regret so many things".

She watched as he opened his eyes, his gaze looking away as she continued, "You've seen what I've done too. You're not alone in being a total asshole at one point in your life. All we can do is try to be better people now".

Kallian smiled as her face hovered only an inch from this. Deciding to take advantage of the opportunity, Atton closed the distance and gave her a swift kiss, Kallian being so dumbfounded that she could not pull away. "I think I'll take that as compensation for my trouble, beautiful," he smirked.

The incensed woman raised her fist as Atton cowered. She punched him anyway though the fearful look he gave her caused a giggle to escape her mouth. "Alright, I probably deserved that. Still worth it though," he said, rubbing his jaw with a grimace.

"You're lucky I'm so forgiving," she spoke darkly, a promise of death in her words.

"So, when do we start my Jedi training?" he asked nonchalantly, avoiding her icy eyes.

"What? You expect me to train you? No chance of that happening," she remarked airily.

"Oh, come on! It was just one little kiss. Are you really going to hold a grudge?" Atton argued.

"I'm still in training myself! How in the name of the Force am I supposed to teach you anything!" she said indignantly as Atton pleaded silently. "Fine...we'll work something out. Maybe Lux can help. Just so we're clear, I don't know what I'm doing, so you'll probably end up just like me".

"Sounds like a plan to me," he grinned as Kallian sighed.

* * *

Kallian looked out at the surface of Korriban, an endless expanse of desert continuing past the horizon. A blood red sun hung low in the sky, the monolithic statues of long dead Sith casting dark shadows over the valley. Everything was strangely still, no wind sweeping over the abandoned excavations of the burial ground. There were no plants, no animals, no signs of any life whatsoever, only ruins dedicated to the lords that once ruled over the heart of the Sith empire.

She had seen this place before, nightmarish visions bringing her to this place of death. She had expected the world to seethe with the dark side, a place of corruption that perverted anything that came in contact with it, but all she felt was a chill. The dark side was present, but it felt subdued, like the hum of a machine in the background, just loud enough to register but easily ignored. Perhaps the darkness was hidden in these ruined tombs, each the resting place of ancient masters of the Sith, lost secrets of their power buried with them.

She stretched out with her feelings, searching for any signs of life, but only found a few simple minds, possessed by creatures too primitive to be any real danger. She looked to Mira and Zevran, the pair looking around with disinterest, apparently not impressed by the architectural prowess of the Sith. "So, opinions?" Kallian asked.

"Doesn't feel that bad. I was expecting crushing despair or indescribable evil, not a barren desert," Mira commented, lowering her blaster to her side.

"I never expected a world that gave birth to such an illustrious race as the Sith would have much in the way of charm. At least in a wide open area, the chances of an ambush are slim, no?" Zevran added.

"Sith assassins don't need cover to be invisible," Mira reminded him.

"Very true, my dear. What would I do without you?" he grinned.

"_Be mindful of where you stand. Few places are stronger with the dark side of the Force. Though Korriban may lie dormant for the moment, the departure of the world's masters is only temporary. The Sith will return one day, filling the void left from the dissolution of Revan's empire_," a voice suddenly spoke in Kallian's head, soft and seductive.

"Kreia? Where are you? How can I hear you?" she asked out loud as the others looked at her in confusion.

"_I cannot step foot on the surface of this dead world, but I can guide you as you make your way to the Academy. There is much that can be learned on this world, the secrets of the old masters buried far beneath the valley. Even in death, the greatest of the Sith Lords jealously guard the source of their power_," the old woman continued cryptically.

"Problem, my dear?" Zevran asked. "Should we take your hearing voices as a bad sign?"

"Kreia's decided to give me a guided tour telepathically because she can't be bothered to leave the ship," she scowled.

"There's definitely a lot to see, that's for sure," Mira commented, her eyes moving over the barren landscape.

The trio began making there way through the abandoned excavations, climbing over half-buried pillars and maneuvering around dig sites. Kallian wondered why the Sith had been so interested in what lay beneath the sands of the valley. She could not imagine that the old masters had left any powerful weapons behind that would be of any consequence to them, and the Force was unique to each individual, not something that could be shared between generations. Perhaps they sought long forgotten writings detailing ancient powers once held by the greatest of the Sith, but from what she knew of them, a dark lord would not be inclined to simply give up knowledge to their inferiors.

"_That tomb is the resting place of Ajunta Pall, one of the first to turn away from the Jedi and embrace the dark side. He and his followers came to this world and enslaved the primitives that resided here. They worshiped him and those like him as gods and revered the power that fueled his strength. And here their god lies, one of the founders of the Sith Empire, lying in a decaying hole, a desiccated husk just like the Empire itself_," Kreia again spoke.

"Nothing lasts forever. On our world the magisters of Tevinter are said to have sought immortality at one time, but their empire is a pale shadow now," she spoke out loud. "It doesn't say much for him if his greatest achievement was conquering a people without spaceflight and no way to defend themselves".

"_And yet that subjugated people has scattered the Jedi throughout the galaxy, forcing those that survive to remain hidden far from their hallowed temple. If you faced one of the old masters in a duel, you would be a child playing with a toy sword before their skill. The Jedi and Sith were one once, their power far beyond that of the pretenders who lay claim to their titles. They say Revan came here and met with the spirits of those long dead. Perhaps Ajunta Pall taught her something of the Force and of power, or perhaps she taught him_," the old woman continued, speaking in a soft voice.

"And what can you tell me of the Sith who stalk the galaxy as we speak? The living corpse and the Miraluka's mysterious master, what of them?" Kallian asked, Mira and Zevran sighing at the one sided conversation.

"_They cloak themselves in the trappings of Sith power, daring to use the 'Darth' title and having the audacity to claim the mantle of Dark Lord of the Sith. The first is a fool who only cares for revenge on the pathetic Jedi, one who can only aspire to be a tool for others to employ. The second cares nothing for the Sith. He is a pestilence that breeds death, a wound in the Force. When the Jedi are destroyed, he will turn on the Sith, and they will be the last sacrifice to his hunger. Neither are True Sith, heirs to the empire that once challenged the Republic. They value power only so much as it can be used to destroy_," she spoke coldly.

"As interesting as this discussion is, might we know what our esteemed Kreia is relating to you?" Zevran asked dryly.

"Just some nonsense about the ancient Sith and their unbelievable power. It's nothing worth repeating," she shrugged in response.

"_What is power? The ability to vanquish your foes, to rule over them, or is it perhaps a means to shape events far after the galaxy has forgotten you? Take the owner of that tomb for instance, Marka Ragnos, whose death brought to an end the Golden Age of the Sith. His successors fought each other for control, dueling in this very valley. One of them, Naga Sadow, eventually took power and sought to prove his worth by conquering a nation the Sith had recently rediscovered, a nation still in its infancy that called itself the Republic. His tomb is adjacent to that of his master, but it lies empty. He fled to the Outer Rim after the Republic and the Jedi humbled him, living a pathetic existence hiding from those far stronger_," she spoke as Kallian wondered what her point was. "_The Sith Empire was broken, their race hunted nearly to extinction. Those that survived fled beyond the reach of the Republic, settling on an untold number of worlds. One in particular was home to a race quite similar to humans but smaller and lithe in frame, their ears pointed instead of rounded. Now tell me, what is power? Even in death one can decide the fate of countless beings, to condemn a race to servitude for millennia, or plunge a galaxy into endless war_".

"I don't care about your questions or your cryptic teachings, Kreia. Everything you say is meant to ensnare the unsuspecting and twist their thoughts. It may work on Lux, but it won't work on me," Kallian growled.

"_Perhaps you are more perceptive than I have given you credit for, but sometimes the pawns who are most useful are those who are aware that another is pulling the strings_," the old woman stated, causing Kallian to blanche and shiver.

The entrance to the Sith Academy was not very impressive, the unadorned gap in the narrow crevice looking like nothing more than another cave or fissure cut into the rocky walls. Two featureless statues flanked the entrance, the elements having reduced the sculptures into formless hunks of rock. The inside was of similar stark design, narrow corridors and low-ceilinged halls making one room in the underground complex indistinguishable from another. Mummified corpses were lying about in filthy rags, their scattered bones obviously food for scavengers at one point or another. The dark side was heavy in the air, but like the rest of Korriban, it felt distant and weak. She felt no threat here.

"I can't imagine anyone learning anything here. This looks like a dungeon...or a crypt," Kallian whispered.

"What did you expect? Children were taught to be murderers here," Mira said quietly. "Some of the older guys in the clan used to talk about what they'd seen when Exar Kun was running the show. Their idea of training was producing killers that felt no empathy or honor. Monsters, all of them".

"I assure you, my dear, being taught the art of killing fails to produce monsters in every case. You stand before just such a man yourself," Zevran remarked gallantly.

"You're a monster of a different sort. I can't really say which type I prefer, honestly," Mira said continued dryly.

"If I may be so bold, I truly doubt you would find the choice difficult to make," he added in a sultry voice.

"You may be more right than you know, Zevran," Kallian cut in. "These Sith turned on each other from the looks of it. Didn't the Crows train their young assassins by setting them on each other?"

"Not directly though. Cunning and subterfuge were highly valued among the Crows. What use would an assassin be if his handiwork were so easily detected, hmm?" he questioned with a laugh. "The apprentice assassins who survived were those who showed...initiative in dealing with their brothers and sisters".

"Killing most of your recruits is insane...not to mention wasteful. There's a reason the Sith always fall in the end to the Jedi. Every time they get close they always tear themselves apart from within. Revan was so close to finally defeating the Republic, but Malak kept the tradition going," Mira scoffed. "That's why the Mandalorians can rise again after getting crushed into the dirt, they're family, not rivals. The Jedi too, they..."

Mira stopped speaking when they came upon her corpse, sightless eyes staring up at them and a mouth twisted into a silent, agonized scream. "Lonna Vash, I presume," Kallian said coldly. "Well this was a waste of time".

The body was slumped against the bars of a cage, others like it lined up against the wall. The marks on her body spoke of torture, and the nightmarish devices that were strewn about only confirmed it. Her robes were stained black with blood, and a dried pool of it surrounded her. Someone must have come here to do this, but Kallian sensed nothing in the dark halls of the academy.

Zevran bent low, examining the body with a professional interest. He closed her eyes with a stroke of his hand, murmuring, "Whoever had a hand in her death delighted in giving her a slow death. These wounds were inflicted to make her suffer before she bled out. Sadistic...brutal, did the killer have a vendetta against this woman?"

Kallian shrugged as Zevran continued to examine the body, her own eyes watching the shadows for any sign of cloaked assassins. She turned to the elven assassin again when she felt his surprise through the Force. "What's the problem, Zevran?" she asked warily.

He held up two fingers, each stained with dark blood. "Her blood is still warm. She only just passed on," he observed, his expression serious.

"I didn't sense anything. She couldn't have just died; I would have felt it!" Kallian insisted, her body feeling like it was doused in ice water.

"I am not doubting you, my dear, but perhaps a swift exit would be preferable at the moment," he cautioned.

"We're not alone in this place," Mira whispered, unholstering her weapon.

"I think you're right," Kallian said, igniting her lightsaber. "The Force feels strange here. I don't know why I didn't feel it before...everything's being obscured by the dark side. Stay close".

Kallian ventured down the darkened corridor, Mira and Zevran trailing close behind. She held her lightsaber at an angle away from her body, ready to strike at anything that tried to ambush her. The Force gave no indication that an attack was imminent, her danger sense revealing nothing. Everything felt hazy, wrong in a way, like her vision was blurred. "Your sensors picking up anything, Mira?" she asked, looking back at the armored woman.

"No life signs. I wouldn't trust it though," she answered quickly.

Kallian nodded, their steps taking them into the central room of the Academy. She whipped around, brandishing her saber but no enemy appeared to meet her blade. Zevran and Mira stood only a few feet behind, each covering a different direction with a blaster. "If they're going to attack, they should show themselves and stop acting like such sodding cowards. I'm getting tired of this charade," she growled.

The hiss of a lightsaber behind her broke the heavy silence. She spun on her heel, bringing her weapon to bear against the unseen foe. She came face to face with Zevran, his eyes wide and his mouth still fixed in a lopsided smirk. He was pale, his face turning a ghostly white as Kallian continued to stare at him. The red glow that highlighted the features of his face only accentuated the ghoulish look, devoid of the smooth confidence he usually exuded. Her eyes traveled downward to the source of the light, a blood red blade buried in the center of his chest, a monstrous face grinning at her from behind.

The grinning Sith ripped his saber from Zevran's chest even before she could react, pushing him into her as she held up his limp body with one arm. She watched as Mira whirled around, getting off one shot before her weapon was cleaved in two. The shot did not seem to affect the hulking Sith, the blackened mark on his grayish skin joining the countless other wounds that marred his ruined form. He swept the humming blade across her chest, Mandalorian armor screaming in protest but not yielding, a blackened line appearing where the energy sword connected. The Sith seemed just as surprised as she was, but he recovered quicker than the stunned woman as a wave of the Force sent her careening into a wall. She did not move after she slumped to the ground.

Kallian took her eyes off the Sith to look down at Zevran, hoping that her eyes had deceived her, and he had not been run through. Or maybe he had been hit in a non-vital area and she could heal him. The Force was so powerful, it could bring him back from even the most grievous wounds. What greeted her was a blackened hole straight through from front to back, the center of his chest completely burned away. She could see the dusty floor looking through it, acrid smoke still rising from the burnt flesh. The metallic scent of blood filled her nostrils along with the smoky scent of fire. She almost gagged.

She chuckled to herself, thinking back to how Zevran would say it would be a wound of the heart that ultimately killed him. She did not think it was funny, but she laughed anyway. She laid his body gently on the ground before again facing the Sith standing before her.

"Your allies have fallen, Jedi. Your kind seem to attract pathetic weaklings like garbage breeds rodents," the Sith Lord spat, a cruel smirk marring his face.

"Shut up," she growled, eyeing him with hatred. "Talk with your blade and shut your mouth, Sith scum".

He chuckled harshly, his one good eye filled with cruel humor as he said, "Darth Sion. Curse my name, Jedi, the slayer of the last of your kind. I'll soon have you screaming at my feet just as before".

He adopted a stance with his lightsaber parallel to his body held in a two-hand grip. He was a different kind of fighter from Revan and Lux, favoring a more brutal style emphasizing strength and overpowering the enemy, at least from what she knew from their last encounter. She angled her own saber to the ground, but made no move to engage him. She could feel the anger and impatience in him now, like a starving animal eyeing prey. It would not be long until he made the first move.

Her feet left the ground as the Sith Lord pulled her toward him, his saber held forward like a lance threatening to impale her. She batted it aside as she hurtled past him, blocking another attack as she rolled to her knees. She held his saber below hers, straining to keep his weapon pinned to the ground as his hot breath washed over her face. "In a hurry to kill me, huh? What are you afraid of Sith?" she mocked, turning angry eyes to his savage face.

He lifted his saber in a quick movement, knocking her backward before he aimed a slash from the side. She again deflected it, allowing her own subtle movements to direct his attack away rather than try and fail to match his strength. Spinning her saber, she flicked the bronze blade up as Sion recovered to block the attack. Their sabers again locked together, Sion pushed her back and growled, "Why should I waste my time fighting the weak? If you cannot defend yourself, then die".

He forced her away again with a punishing attack, Kallian stumbling back as she tried to keep her footing. She held her lightsaber with one hand pointing at the giant man, searching for some kind of opening to exploit. She needed a plan if she was going to escape alive unless she had some epiphany very soon about how to kill an immortal. As she backed away slowly, her heel struck something soft, causing her to look back. She could not help but stare at the sightless eyes of Zevran staring up at her, her body going cold.

She barely got her saber up in time as Sion's crimson blade crashed down. Her legs buckled under the strain, his weapon singing her clothes as it slid off her broken defense. Rolling away, she felt his follow up slice through her billowing robe. "Your wandering mind will be your undoing, Jedi. Did they not teach you to maintain your focus at the Temple?" he asked in a sarcastic tone.

"You're going to pay for everything you've done, Sith!" she spat, again bringing her saber to bear against him.

"Empty words. Your fellow Jedi produced similar worthless threats before they were struck down, but at least they hid their fear until the end. I sense much fear in you," he spoke in that gravelly tone, smirking all the while.

She lunged at him, extending her arm and stabbing forward. He batted her blade away easily, but she struck again, diving low under his guard to slash at his midsection. Continuing to face him, she unleashed a flurry of attacks, their lightsabers screaming like feral beasts as they clashed against one another. She moved in closer, spinning her lightsaber as she rained blow after blow on his blood red blade, electricity arcing through the air. They were so close that she could feel the heat of the energy blades scorching her skin, the fiery swords once again locked together crackling with fearsome energy.

Kallian jumped back, breathing heavily, adrenaline pumping through her veins from the furious battle. If she had continued to push forward, she would have committed herself to either winning or dying with death being the far more likely outcome. Sion did not pursue her as he held his blazing weapon loosely, his face looking almost gleeful as he followed her slow retreat. "So...not ready to surrender yet? Not that I would allow you to die so quickly," he smirked, looking at her prosthetic arm peaking out from burned cloth.

Kallian saw where his eyes had wandered and she sneered in return, "It seems that every time we meet, you take something more from me. I swear, you will regret everything you took!" She smashed her weapon into his in a feint before sending a burst of lightning at him. He nonchalantly blocked it with his long blade, the blood red saber surrounded by a blue corona.

"I intend to take much more from you this time, Jedi," he assured her, the strange way he spoke the words making Kallian frown. Underneath the viciousness, his words seemed to contain a promise of a different sort. She shivered as he looked over her, the look in his single working eye almost tender.

Sion stabbed his lightsaber toward her, but by that time Kallian was already moving. She allowed his weapon to graze against her downward pointed blade before she spun and aimed a slash at his single eye. He threw his head back but not before her orange saber left a shallow, black furrow across his face. Lux told her never to take her eyes off an opponent, which meant the garish spins and flips were obviously out. A more flamboyant style did have its place though, especially when trying to catch an enemy off guard.

Pain was just a motivator to Darth Sion though, a means to fuel his wrath, something Kallian learned when his blade descended like lightning from the skies, smashing into the ground where she had crouched not a second earlier. Vaporized dust filled the air as the Sith Lord spun for another attack, bringing his blade clear across his body to strike at her. She was thrown off her feet, the force of the attack numbing her arms and sending her sprawling to the ground. Kallian kicked out as she tumbled but Sion ensnared her leg, lifting her in the air where she hung like a broken marionette.

Even suspended in the air, she was far from helpless. She swung her saber wildly, keeping the sneering Sith's weapon busy as she fought to free herself. His rage increasing, Sion clenched the fist holding her leg as Kallian screamed in pain. To his surprise, she swung her saber in a wide arc, severing his forearm and sending her headfirst into the ground.

Grimacing, she threw away the disgusting limb still locked around her throbbing ankle like a vice. The gray flesh crumbled like clay at her touch, the severed arm cold like stone. She backed away from the scowling Sith, brandishing her saber and hoping that though immortal, he did not have the ability to regenerate. "Well, there's part of your debt to me repaid at least," she mocked.

Sion ignored her, picking up the dead limb and holding it to his blackened wound. Red energy surrounded the cut as Kallian felt the dark side swirl around him. His fingers twitched as he flexed the restored arm, Kallian's expression changing from brash and condescending to grim. "You were saying, Jedi?" he laughed, completely unaffected from the impromptu reattachment.

Kallian gave him a look of loathing, snarling at the arrogance of the Sith Lord. "You think you are so powerful? You are the most pathetic opponent I have ever faced!" she spat as Sion glared. "You're sloppy with a lightsaber, not even caring if you are hit. You are weak and craven, hiding in an invulnerable body! Come on coward, fight me without relying on the dark side to save you!"

She wanted to continue taunting him but she felt an invisible fist close around her neck, choking her. She gasped and wheezed as Darth Sion raised his voice in fury, bellowing, "The only one who is weak is you, Jedi! Look at yourself, squirming in the dust like an insect, the same as the rest of your wretched kind! I could crush you at my whim, and you call me weak?"

Kallian imagined the fist strangling her loosening, her own power prying its fingers away from her throat. Gulping in air, she looked at him with hateful eyes, slowly maneuvering her way to the fallen form of Mira. "You say the Jedi are dead, but you are wrong. You failed to destroy them. The Masters of the Council, Kavar, Vrook, Atris, and others are alive. My own Master Revan hunts your pitiful brethren even as we speak. So keep cowering in the shadows like a rat, waiting for the day when they find you".

"You, apprentice of the weakling Revan? How fitting," he sneered. "Malak was right to usurp the mantle of Dark Lord from that feeble, little girl. She weakened the Sith with her devotion to her precious Republic, allowing the worthless Jedi to join our ranks rather than being destroyed at our hands. Fool, at least Malak taught the vermin the meaning of fear".

"That weakling killed Malak. So much for the awesome power of the dark side. Your fate will be the same as his," she boasted confidently.

The Force wave hit her just as she finished, lifting her off the ground and slamming her into the opposite wall. Her head hit the unforgiving rock with a sharp crack, the sound seeming to come minutes after as she lay there dazed. Kallian reached up to the back of her head as her vision swam, her fingers feeling something warm and sticky. She cursed her own arrogance, recalling Revan and Lux's words that in battle even a single moment of inattention could be fatal.

Sion approached her, brushing aside her weak attempt to defend herself like he was swatting aside an annoying gnat. She reached out for the silver hilt of her lightsaber as it spun away, the bronze blade screaming as it cut into the rough stone of the floor. He pulled her up by the neck, hot breath washing over her face as the Sith Lord held her in the air. She clawed at his arm with her artificial hand, but the deep cuts drew no blood from his stone-like skin. This was not how she planned to die, strangled to death by a walking corpse.

As she struggled, surprisingly his grip seemed to loosen. He brought his face close to hers, his cold eye adopting a strange expression. Sion made no move to bring his humming lightsaber up to end her life. He seemed to be struggling with something, unable to resolve a dilemma eating away at him. The grimacing man brought his face even closer and Kallian's mind went blank. "_Is he going to kiss me_?" she thought in a daze.

He stopped only a hair's breadth away, his cracked lips almost grazing hers and the cold feel of his forehead pressing on her brow. The gaze of that single eye bored into her, hatred and longing present in equal measure. "You invade my thoughts, driving me mad. I do not understand," he growled. "You are so weak...beneath my notice. Why should I think anything of you?"

Kallian could hardly respond with her windpipe crushed and her lungs barely able to draw air, but Sion seemed content to continue his musings. "You...I cannot rid my mind of your face. I hate it," he continued menacingly. "I see you, and I see my own weakness. Weakness leads to death. I hate you, and yet I cannot forget you. Why is this?"

Kallian could only stare at him with wide eyes, fear and revulsion beginning to overwhelm her. Having him as an enemy was bad enough, but this...this was horrifying. "I do not know why. I should kill you, but...I offer you a chance. Join me, become my apprentice, and I will spare you," he spoke, his face twitching like his own mind was at war with itself.

Sneering at him, Kallian spat in his face, prompting the enraged Sith to slam his forearm into her neck, choking her. "Idiot girl...you would rather choose death! I will break you, and then you will beg for the end to come!"

The Force flowed through her in that moment, a burst of energy blasting the Sith away. She recalled her saber and slashed at the staggered Sith Lord, the blood red bar of his own weapon disappearing as she cut right through the black hilt. She swung her saber down in an effort to split him in two, but her bronze blade caught on one the color of the sky back home. Kallian held her weapon against the stolen lightsaber, electricity crackling through the air as she yelled, "As if I would ever join you! I can sense the conflict within you, Sith...all those shameful thoughts and unfulfilled desires". She licked her lips and smiled at him mockingly. "All that power and strength you have...I heard following the dark path could give the Sith whatever they wanted...but not this," she said sweetly, gesturing to herself.

As he seethed in rage, she began slowly maneuvering to Mira, circling around him as their sabers clashed. "_Good_," she thought, "_Let him lose all focus on the battle_". He pushed her blade away with a snarl, aiming a slash to her midsection but hitting nothing but air. She landed next to Mira, gathering the unconscious woman over her shoulder with Force-enhanced strength. Calling on all the power within her, she sent a Force wave toward Sion, sending him flying into the far wall. The stone cracked from the force of the impact, but he was already resisting her continued onslaught.

She ran to the exit as Sion cried out, "You think you can escape, Jedi? No hole you crawl in will hide you for long! You will be mine, either at my heel or just another of your pathetic Order I have slain!"

Kallian glanced back to look at the fallen form of Zevran, her face a mask of pain and sorrow, but she had to turn away. The living took precedence over the dead, no matter how much it galled her to leave a friend behind. The ceiling collapsed behind her as torrents of energy cracked the ancient rock, tons falling on the snarling form of Darth Sion. Kallian could not tell if the academy was shaking from the collapse or from his uncontrolled wrath. Either way, he would be free soon, and she had to get off the planet quickly.

It was night when she finally made her way out of the Academy, the high walls of chasm seeming to rise to imprison her as she rushed past. Mira stirred and groaned, so Kallian let her down, hoping that the woman would be in good enough shape to walk on her own. "Fierfek..." she slurred, "So we're not dead then?"

"Not yet, but that could change real soon if we don't get moving," Kallian snapped, hauling the dazed woman up.

"What happened to that ugly bastard? Where's Zevran? Oh..." she trailed off, seeing the grim look on Kallian's face.

"Zevran got killed. The Sith scum stabbed him from behind like a coward," she choked out.

"Did you kill him?" she asked hesitantly.

"The bastard's not even really alive. The dark side sustains him. I slowed him down, but he'll probably be after us soon. We need to go now," she insisted, looking away from her.

"Your eyes..." Mira began but Kallian cut her off.

"I can imagine what they look like...just leave it be," she said simply, her eyes shining in the dark.

* * *

"It is done," Kreia intoned, rising from her meditations. Making her way to the cockpit, she startled Atton as she spoke, "Ready the ship for takeoff. We are leaving this graveyard world".

"Excuse me, your majesty, but I think Kallian and the rest haven't come back yet," he said sarcastically, glaring up at the woman.

"Unimportant. Our business here is finished whether they are here or not. Do not question me again, fool," she stated condescendingly as Atton looked up at her with loathing.

"I'm not some slave you can just order around you twisted old scow," he snapped. "We're staying put until they come back".

Kreia laughed coldly, the sound like glass shattering. "I know what sordid memories lie hidden within that black hole you call a mind, fool. Would you like others to know the truth? I am sure the girl you are so fond of would find your true face disgusting to behold. Will you continue to defy me?"

To her surprise, Atton laughed, glaring at the cloaked woman with hatred. "She already knows. I told her you twisted hag, and she accepted what I'd done. You can't control me anymore," he smirked in victory.

"The fool is more resourceful than I first believed," Kreia observed, a bemused note to her voice. "Fine then, if you wish to stay with Revan's apprentice on this dead world, be my guest".

Atton could not even move as he felt dark power creep into his mind, darkening his vision and sending him to the brink of unconsciousness. He tried to fight, but as oblivion threatened to take him, her focused power was overwhelming.

Kreia left him lying facedown in the gray sand next to that annoying droid. The girl would need a pilot anyway, she concluded. Atton's little rebellion would fit nicely into her plans.

* * *

"_Peace is a lie, there is only passion_," a voice whispered, sounding far away.

"Wake up, cousin!" a voice called out, cutting into Kallian's fitful dreams.

She opened her eyes, seeing a smiling redhead staring down at her, "Shianni, it's too early to start drinking. Let me sleep," she heard herself groan as she pulled the threadbare cover over her head. It was strange, like she was speaking the words but also listening from a distance.

"You can't sleep! You're getting married today!" she said excitedly, shaking the curled up ball of covers.

"Maybe getting an early start on the drinking isn't such a bad idea after all," she scoffed. "Nothing like marrying some sod you've never met". Kallian's confusion deepened as she looked into Shianni's gleeful eyes. She felt like she had experienced this exact same day before a long time ago. Everything felt hazy and somehow wrong in a way.

"You look prettier when you smile, Kallian! Do you really want your betrothed to see you for the first time with that frown on your face?" she laughed. "Don't worry...I took a peak. He's cute!"

Kallian tried to grin, but it was a halfhearted effort. She tried to take her mind of the worries that constantly sprung up, dismissing the feeling as nothing more than nerves before the wedding. "Really? Why don't you take him then, Shianni?" she asked coyly as Shianni shoved her back into bed.

"You don't know how lucky you are! You should see Soris' bride. Her face is a tragedy!" she whispered conspiratorially.

As the day went on, the fog that enveloped Kallian's mind began to disperse. She knew that this day had happened before and that she was not going crazy. It felt like she was in a dream, everything and everyone a little off, but she could not wake up. She knew she had to though as something horrible happened on this day, but she could not quite remember what it was. She only remembered when Vaughan backhanded her, the world going black.

"_Through passion, I gain strength_, the voice spoke again, repeating words she knew from...somewhere.

She woke up in that cramped room in the Arl of Denerim's Estate, the girl who would soon be dead sobbing and praying to a nonexistent god. Last time she told everyone to fight back, but this time she advised them to be cooperative. Maybe she could save her this time, even if she was only a dream. No such luck, the leering shems slaughtered her like a fattened nug just as they had done before. Kallian felt like a passive observer, watching memories from another time, another life.

They surrounded her, already unbuckling their armor, their eyes no longer that of humans but animals. She waited for Soris to arrive, bearing a sword borrowed from Duncan. She kept looking at the open door even as the larger man pushed her to the ground. Soris did not appear in the doorway.

Kallian looked into the lascivious eyes of the shem holding her down as his mouth closed around hers, muffling her scream of rage and revulsion. She tried to fight him off but her arms were pinned by the heavier human. His disgusting tongue slipped into her mouth as she gagged, her teeth cutting through it as she bit down. The shem screamed as he drew back, his fist connecting with her cheek while he unleashed a string of curses and profanity. For the first time, Kallian felt real pain, the taste of blood in her mouth though she did not know if it was hers or the roaring shem's.

She felt the cold steel of a dagger at her throat as the bleeding shem snarled at her. He cut through the bodice of her dress, the blade leaving a trail of red as he pulled it roughly through the expensive fabric. Another ripped through the cloth of the long skirt as she kicked at him futilely, her struggling ineffectual against the group of shems twice her size.

"_Through strength, I gain power_," the strange voice spoke.

Angry tears filled her eyes, her desperate attempts to call on the Force useless. Closing her eyes, she raged inwardly, cursing her own weakness for not being able to kill these disgusting shems, cursing herself for not being able to save her father, not being able to save Zevran, save her child. Tears of bitterness and hate leaked from her eyes as the dark power rose within.

"_Through power, I gain victory_," the voice spoke again, clearer this time.

She felt her hand grasp the arm of one of the shems, and she clenched her fist, a wet popping sound filling the room soon followed by a blood-chilling scream. The wrathful woman turned her head to the right only to see a metallic claw crushing the man's wrist, flesh becoming oozing pulp and bone splintering into yellow shards. She remembered then that she was not the weak, little girl who slunk around in the shadows, avoiding the eyes of racist shems. She had no reason to be afraid anymore.

"_Through victory, my chains are broken_," a cold voice spoke in her head.

Kallian felt the Force envelop her, tearing apart the pathetic shems who dared to lay their hands on her. Their bodies burst like overripe fruit, blood and gore splattering all over her. Dark energy crackled around the room as she stood up, looking down at her blood-spattered robes. Lightsaber in hand, she marched deliberately to where Shianni was being held, already planning what horrors she would unleash on that accursed rapist.

Blowing the door open with the Force, her eyes widened as she took in the sight before her, blood pooling on the floor and slowly dripping from deep red splotches on the walls. She saw the horrified expression frozen on Vaughan's corpse, his body torn in two, intestines snaking from one half to the other. Another body quickly captured her gaze from the grisly end of Bann Vaughan, that of a small elf girl clad in a bridesmaid's dress. Shianni lay there, her eyes more surprised than pained or afraid, almost like she could not imagine who had killed her. Her chest was torn open, a crushed heart lying a scant distance from her unmoving body. A dark figure stood over her, black cloak obscuring all its features.

"The Force shall free me," the cloaked figure stated with a voice like ice.

Kallian was frozen in horror as the hooded figure turned, revealing a face she knew very well. She looked into her own eyes, now a pitiless yellow and red. The doppelganger's flesh was an unhealthy gray, marred by lesions and cracks, matted white hair cascading over the monstrous face. It grinned at her, yellowing teeth exposed as it cackled, its laugh a cruel parody of her own.

Kallian woke with a scream, her hand reaching up to her chest as she felt her heart race. She looked around, expecting to be sitting in her cot on the Ebon Hawk, but all she saw was featureless rock. Her strange surroundings disoriented her, as she could not remember how she came to lie in this cave. She called out to Mira, but no one answered. She opened her mouth to voice Zevran's name, but his name died on her tongue. She wanted to scream, to cry, pound her fists on the ground, but she just sat there with her head bowed. This was too much; she felt overwhelmed with anger and bitterness. Another failure to add to her growing list. She gritted her teeth, yellow eyes flashing in the empty darkness. The Sith would answer for Zevran's murder. She swore it.

Now only to figure out where she was and how she got here, she thought grimly. She remembered collapsing the ceiling of the Sith Academy and making a run for it but nothing after that. It felt almost like waking up suddenly and trying to hold on to a dream as it slipped inexorably away. She was in a cave of some sort, but carvings on the walls and half-finished columns hewn out of hard granite indicated that this place was occupied at one time or another. As Kallian moved further in, the stone floor became smooth and polished, the architecture growing grander and imposing. This place, whatever it was for, was created for an important purpose, but it looked like it was suddenly abandoned and forgotten, the layer of dust on the floor and statues a testament to the lack of visitors.

The art was consistent with what she had seen of ancient Sith culture, grandiose statues depicting a single man staring contemptuously at her as she walked past. It was like whoever built this place wanted visitors to feel small and inferior, an attitude she could readily agree most Sith possessed. Occasionally, she thought she saw something move out of the corner of her eye, but when she turned to the source, nothing met her eyes. Her Force sense told her that the cave was as dead as the sneering sculptures, but it had already failed her once before. She knew now not to trust it.

Walking into a larger room, she approached a simple alter that seemed to be the space's only defining feature. The altar pulsed with the power of the dark side, words of a language she did not understand carved by what looked like a lightsaber. When Kallian touched it, her mind filled with images of a duel, two red-faced men with strange tendrils battling with swords seemingly forged from black glass. The vision faded quickly though, and Kallian turned away from the altar.

"What are you doing here?" a childlike voice asked her out of nowhere and she spun around.

She saw a human girl, maybe around ten or eleven, sitting on the altar with her legs swinging to and fro looking at her with large, mischievous eyes. She wore a nondescript, tan tunic and matching pants in the style of a Jedi. Her short black hair framed a pale face filled with a playful and impish expression, those large, gray eyes looking at her with mirth. "Who are you and what are you doing here?" the girl repeated in a slightly reproachful manner.

Kallian was on her guard, but she could not exactly strike down a small child, even if it was just a Force projection. It might have information on how to leave this place. "That is a question I should be asking you, little girl," Kallian said, eyeing the child with suspicion. "What are you?"

"My master says it's rude to answer a question with a question," the girl muttered, shooting a dark look at the surprised woman in front of her.

The elven woman sighed before answering, "I'm Kallian. I don't know what I'm doing here...I don't even know how I got here".

"That's too bad. I hope you find what you're meant to do here," she said shyly, looking away. "My name is Sorcha. I'm waiting for my master here".

"In this place? I think you might be lost," Kallian said wryly as the girl reddened.

"I'm not lost...but you are," the child insisted in a petulant tone.

"So you're waiting for your master here? Who is your master?" Kallian asked.

"Arren Kae, have you heard of her? I heard some of the other Jedi talking...they say she is better at fighting than Kavar! Some of our masters on the Council talk bad about her, but I love her!" Sorcha said enthusiastically as Kallian paled.

Kallian knew she had heard that name before, the name of a woman whose life was filled with tragedy, a doomed love, and a fallen apprentice. Before she could speak, the curious eyes of the girl met hers. "Are you a Sith?" she asked innocently. "My master says Sith have yellow eyes...and that they're evil".

She turned away, her face reddening in shame as she denied, "I hate the Sith. I'd never be one of them!"

A cold, pitiless voice answered her denials, "How can you hate what you are?"

Kallian brought up her saber just as a hissing red blade crashed against hers. The little girl was gone, replaced by a nightmarish apparition. Sulfurous yellow eyes glared at her while a manic grin appeared on pale lips. The extent of the dark side's corruption on this woman was staggering, wide circles of blackened flesh around those devilish eyes covered most of her cheeks, the burned skin reaching to her neck like trails of tears. Her skin was ghostly pale, almost like a frozen corpse while old scars festered and oozed with puss and blood. The hair that peaked from her night black hood was a dirty gray, stringy and unkempt. The rest of her body was hidden under polished armor and rich, black and purple fabric, the opulent garb seemingly out of place when looking at her monstrous visage. Kallian knew the armor very well, although it looked newer and less weathered.

"Quite easily," she growled, pushing the dark woman's purple saber back. "Sorcha, I presume?"

"You presume wrong, fool!" the woman screamed, spinning her saberstaff and bringing it down on Kallian's. "The one you call Sorcha is dead. I am Darth Revan!"

"No you aren't," Kallian spat, shoving her opponent's weapon aside again. "You're just a pale shadow of Revan, a frail copy. Weak and pathetic".

"You call me weak?" Darth Revan exclaimed incredulously. "I embody all the power of the Sith! The dark side is mine to command!"

"Exactly," Kallian nodded, throwing aside her lightsaber. "You are Sith...and a Sith can only ever be a slave". The elven woman looked contemptuously at the wide-eyed apparition, leaving herself completely open to attack. "I will never be a slave". Darth Revan screamed in rage, stabbing her lightsaber straight through Kallian's heart.

Kallian opened her eyes, the feel of the dark side gone from the altar. She felt good, far better than she had felt since her mother was murdered. All the anger, all the sorrow, all the disappointment, all the horrible years spent trying fruitlessly clawing her way out of the hole she was born in gone; she felt...free.

"No...not yet," she spoke softly, entering a circular chamber surrounded by twisted columns. A sarcophagus lay at the center of a smooth, marble floor etched with Sith glyphs. The face that had been once been carved in the black stone was blasted off, whoever scarred the coffin obviously wanting to give one final insult to the one who lay inside.

"No," a voice spoke gravely. "The tomb of Ludo Kressh lies empty, what remains of his body scattered amidst the endless void".

Kallian looked to the source of the voice, showing no surprise as she looked upon the hooded form of Kreia. "The fool sought to claim the mantle of Dark Lord of the Sith from his master, Marka Ragnos, dueling his fellow apprentice Naga Sadow for the title," she continued, her voice growing harsher and more imperious. "The unworthy pair doomed the Sith, but Revan restored the Sith to their former glory. You are her apprentice, the heir to everything she reclaimed. Now take your rightful place as Lord of the Sith. Become what it is your destiny to be!"

The fiery haired woman shot an appraising glance at the brown robed apparition, eerie yellow eyes shining in the darkness before saying simply, "I don't think so".

"You would deny the destiny the Force has chosen for you?" the old woman asked in a dangerous tone.

"There is no such thing as destiny...only purpose. I will destroy the Sith and give my people a better life...that is what I will live for," Kallian whispered with absolute conviction. "And you think to manipulate me by speaking of destiny? Please, I know that you above all people Kreia, do not believe in such nonsense. I see through your tricks".

"Do you?" the woman asked in a patronizing tone. "You say your purpose is to destroy the Sith, but you have allowed the greatest of them to walk among you. You say that my tricks are easily seen through, but you have played your role in this as I have directed. And you say that you will break the chains that bind your people in a prison of poverty and slavery, but how will you succeed in such a grand crusade if you have no people to save?"

For the first time, Kallian felt fear as she looked upon the cloaked woman. "Kreia, what have you done?" she asked in desperation.

"Interesting, isn't it, how a name can define us, define how others perceive our presence and intentions? We cloak our true nature with these names, revealing only what we want others to see," she mused, pacing as Kallian followed her with wide eyes. "I have taken many names in my lifetime, but only one is true. What is the true nature of the living other than to be betrayed and to betray in kind? That is the one truth in the universe, the truth I embody...Darth Traya".

"It was you. You planned this, didn't you? Zevran's death, all the visions I had here...it was all you. You wanted me to fall, but you failed!" Kallian exclaimed.

"No, everything is proceeding as I have foreseen," she laughed coldly. "You are of no consequence, a foolish girl who reaches for power far above her comprehension. Lux is already mine, and Revan will fall when my apprentice destroys your pathetic homeworld. The galaxy will bow to me, master of the Sith".

Kallian watched as Darth Traya's hood fell back, revealing eyes as black as the void. Even as a Force projection, she could feel the darkness radiating from her, an aura of indescribable evil. "You're just a petty tyrant with a god complex. You wouldn't have gone to all this trouble if you didn't see me as a threat. I'll find a way to stop you!" she said confidently. "I don't know how Revan could ever admire you. You're drunk with power, just like any other of your contemptible Sith!"

"Fear you? You are meaningless to me. Even if you escaped this planet to assemble the Republic fleet at Telos, my pawn Atris will be there to stop you. Poor Revan, trapped on your worthless planet, will be powerless to do anything when Nihlus consumes all life there, leaving it as dead as Malachor and Katarr. Despair foolish girl, as everyone and everything you love will soon be destroyed," she sneered, those black orbs pitiless.

I'll see you again soon, Darth Traya," she growled, spitting out the name venomously.

"No, you will not," she ended the conversation mysteriously, her Force projection vanishing from sight.

Kallian took a deep breath, trying to calm herself as fear for her friends and family threatened to overwhelm her. "I have to get to Telos," she resolved.

* * *

As the Ebon Hawk hurtled through hyperspace, Kreia sat meditating, her thin mouth set in an almost invisible smile. The girl lacked control over her emotions and could not rationally think things through, much like Revan as a youngling. It was amusing how confident and proud the girl was over resisting her supposed manipulations. Young Kallian did not realize that the best way to control a person's actions was to make them think that they were choosing their path of their own free will.

The girl would go to Telos, remove Atris as a threat, and bring the Republic fleet to where Revan searched for the ancient secrets of the True Sith. The fool Nihlus would be destroyed one way or another, and finally, after years of wandering the dark places of the galaxy, she would finally avenge herself against her greatest betrayer, the Force itself.

Her pieces were assembled on the Dejarik board, her enemy's scattered and broken. Her enemy was in check, and soon it would be time for the game to end.

* * *

**A/N: I thought about whether Kallian would ultimately succumb to the dark side at the end of the story and wavered about it as I wrote up to this point. I decided it would be inconsistent with her character to fall for a second time as, though she has so much anger and regret inside her, she is at heart a good person. She will carry darkness within her always, but she will never serve the Sith or the dark side. I was surprised that so many people reviewed after the last chapter, and I want to thank you all and those who read as well. Fayneir, I hope you enjoyed the Korriban chapter. I am surprised that Korriban only took one chapter while Nar Shaddaa took several, as I think the former is far more important to the plot. Gogolu, I am glad you like Revan's section. That chapter bogged me down for a while, but the parts with Revan always seem so much easier to write. NTFTH, Fenris and Revan have some things in common like their shared anger and bitterness about their past, their lost memories, and their attitude toward slavery. I might explore the similarities between the two in a later chapter involving them, but given Revan's tendency to drive people away, there is little chance they can ever become friendly. Revan is also hesitant to become involved in unnecessary conflicts she cares nothing about, so she will at least try to stay out of the mage/templar war. Kaimaler, thank you for for the kind words though I do not think I really deserve them. I am always afraid that what I am writing is absolutely horrible, so when I get reviews like yours it gives me confidence to keep writing. I will try to live up to your expectations, and I hope this chapter renews your interest in Kallian's side of the story. MrEmperor, I hope you liked the climax of Kallian's struggles with the dark side. She will remain rather 'dark' in attitude and outlook, but I think that is just her embracing her true nature and not trying and failing to live up to the ideal of a light side paragon. Deadzepplin, Kallian's outward personality is rather mean and at times cruel, but the terrible events in her life have made her that way. She is afraid to get closer to people, worried that they might end up hurting her. I like flawed characters like her; they are more fun to write. Bugsquirt, DA2 was a flawed game, but I think it at least it had interesting characters. I do not know how much I want to include the DA2 characters in this story, as it might distract from the main plot. Any section involving them will remain focused on Revan's search for information about the wound in the Force. Sorry about the long author's notes.**


	12. An End to Friendship

Lux tapped his foot nervously as the Ebon Hawk rumbled toward a clearing in the jungle near the Mandalorian camp, the repulsorlift engines shaking the ground as the freighter came to a rest. The feeling of apprehension that had dogged his thoughts in the absence of the ship only increased as he reached out to determine if everyone was still accounted for. All he felt was lifeless metal and circuitry, not even the faint glimmer of Kreia appearing in the Force. The pressure he felt increased, droplets of sweat running down his brow as he moved quickly to the descending hatch.

The inside of the ship was deathly quiet, the running lights dimmed so that the emergency lights cast everything in an eerie red light. He rushed to wear Kreia usually meditated and found the woman there, her back turned to him and her presence masked in the Force. "I confess that your fear was unexpected. I believed, wrongly it seems, that you would have realized that this is the only outcome that would come to pass," she whispered, still facing away from him.

"Kreia...what happened to everyone? Kallian, Zevran, Atton, and Mira...where are they?" he asked like a man whose last hope had just been destroyed.

"As I have said before...why ask a question you already know the answer to?" she asked in that low, emotionless voice.

"I don't know the answer!" he snapped, stepping forward threateningly. "But by the way your acting, my mind can only turn to the worst possible scenario!"

"Do not confuse what you wish had happened with what you know has happened, or should I say, what you knew _would_ happen," she spoke coldly with a hint of annoyance. "The girl has fallen, consumed by a power she foolishly thought she could control. Your warnings were in vain".

"What about the others?" he choked out.

"As for her alien companion...slain at her hand along with the Jedi Master you sought," Kreia said gravely. "The fool and the Mandalorian have most likely joined her".

"But why? What interest would Atton and Mira have in someone fallen to the dark side?"

"The one you know as Atton was once an assassin for Revan's empire...a specialist in hunting and murdering Jedi. He has been hiding the Force within him for as long as he traveled with you, but on Korriban, the call of the dark side proved too seductive to ignore. The Mandalorian's motives are not known to me, but suffice to say, those untrained in the Force often prove easy victims for the darkness within".

"Atton...a Sith?" Lux spoke incredulously. "How is that possible...and you knew this?"

"Yes, I knew. The pathetic barriers he erected to defend his mind from intruders were easily penetrated by my power. Despite his past loyalties, I believed he would still serve some use to us. I was mistaken in that it seems," she admitted, the lie meant to display false weakness completely fooling the trusting Lux.

"But you promised to protect her! Why would you take her to Korriban without me if you foresaw this? If I had been there, I..." he grimaced, his hands clenching into fists.

"Your presence would have done nothing to prevent her fall. That girl was a danger to you, a danger I could not allow you to so foolishly keep at your side," she insisted condescendingly. "Accuse me of allowing this, I will not deny it. I could not allow your naïveté to destroy everything I have worked for. You are far too important to waste your life seeking to save a lost cause".

"You won't even deny it? What...what gives you the right to decide who is worth saving and who is not?" he seethed, dark eyes filled with unbridled fury. "You abandoned her in a place even the strongest of the Jedi would be hard-pressed to escape still whole in mind and spirit, and you say such a callous thing was necessary? She deserved better. You have destroyed a life, Kreia; I hope you know what that means".

"All that I have done is prevent you from stumbling over obstacles of your own making. If that makes me a monster...if that earns me your unending hate, I would have done nothing differently. Some sacrifices are required of us...no matter how painful they might be," she resolved, her tone combative and assured.

Lux seemed to deflate in the face of her defiance, the shadows that lay on his lined face making him look far older than he was. "I will not forget this betrayal, Kreia. You should have known better than to think I would want another's life ruined to spare my own".

"Of that, I am very aware, which is why of course, I prevented that very dilemma from occurring. I will not apologize for protecting you," she stated coldly, making it very clear that the discussion was over.

Just then, Brianna rushed in wearing a grim expression. "Master Kavar has sent word: Vaklu's coup has begun earlier than he expected. He needs help down there," she said quickly.

"Tell Mandalore to prep the Basilisk and meet me there, will you Brianna?" Lux responded, revealing nothing of the swirling emotions he felt.

"Of course, but...where are the others. I sense no one on the ship save for you and..." she trailed off, looking at the old woman with a confused expression.

"Kreia, my former master," Lux finished for her, eyeing the young woman with confusion.

"Of course! I just...the name slipped my mind for a moment. I apologize," Brianna continued apologetically.

"I will be accompanying you to the planet's surface, Lux," Kreia spoke, her tone leaving no room for argument.

"I don't remember offering you an invitation," he growled.

"Nevertheless, there is something I must do there. Stay your misplaced anger and learn wisdom, and then perhaps you will see how much I sacrifice for you," she snapped back in the voice of a disappointed parent.

"Do as you wish," Lux gave in before giving his former master a hard look. "I would never lie to you, Kreia, so at least show me the same regard I show you. We both know you never do anything without some benefit to yourself, so don't lie to me. I'm not a child anymore".

"Oh but my dear apprentice, I would be lying if I called you anything but," Kreia finished and fell silent.

Lux saw Brianna look over to him, expecting a response, but he simply placed a hand on the Echani's shoulder and turned away, leaving the old woman to meditate on her transgressions.

* * *

Kallian held her breath as their borrowed ship rocketed into space, an ominous screech sounding from the engine room. She shot a concerned look at Atton, but the cocky pilot seemed indifferent to what to Kallian's ears sounded like the engine tearing away from the rest of the ship. "Are you sure this thing is safe?" a squeaking voice emerged from her mouth, the pressure from liftoff driving her back into the copilot's seat.

"Safe as a rusted, old heap that been abandoned since the Great Sith War can be. It hasn't blown up yet, has it?" he smirked as the old freighter escaped Korriban's gravity well.

"Should I be expecting it to?" she asked through a series of rapid breaths.

"Well...there was a small leak in the hyperdrive," he remarked as Kallian paled, "so we're about to find out".

"You're about to take us into hyperspace with a ship you think is going to explode as soon as you do it? Kallian barked, growing increasingly more agitated. "Is this your idea of a plan, huh?

"_My plan_ as you call it didn't involved getting kicked off my ship by some power-mad Sith hag and being forced to scrounge through whatever wrecks got left behind in Dreshdae," Atton retorted. "Don't worry sister, I got everything under control".

"And if I you don't have everything under control?"

"Then this is going to be one short trip," Atton joked, pulling back on the hyperdrive. Nothing happened as the engine coughed and the ship shuddered violently. "That's not good".

Kallian was deciding whether to tear into him with a scathing remark or simply punch him when she was forced back into her seat, the pinpricks of stars extending into white streaks as the sudden acceleration slammed into her. When she came to, she saw Atton's grinning face hovering over her. She returned his wide smile with a murderous scowl. "See, I told you this old girl had it in her," he said innocently.

"The inertial dampers could use some work though," Mira spoke up. "For a second there, I thought we left my stomach behind".

"Sorry the ride's not as smooth as you're used to, ladies. I'll keep in mind your delicate natures from now on," Atton said airily before quickly losing his nerve as two sets of angry eyes regarded him furiously.

Mira was the first to speak, her voice resigned as she said, "Might not want go back to the cargo hold...the hyperdrive ruptured and flooded the place. HK's seeing what he can do with it now, but I wouldn't expect much from that insane bucket of bolts. This pile of scrap might get us to Nar Shaddaa, but we're going to need a new crate if we ever hope to get off that rock".

"You know it's bad luck to speak ill of the ship you're currently occupying," he chastised, earning an eye roll from the Mandalorian woman.

"I wouldn't exactly call this a ship anymore...a deathtrap would be more fitting," Mira retorted as she looked warily at the hanging circuitry drooping from busted access panels.

"Well we could be heading right for Telos if _somebody_ didn't insist that we make a quick stop on the smuggler's moon. I didn't know quick stop's meaning had changed to permanent stay," Atton griped.

Mira glowered at the smirking pilot, but the staring match abruptly ended when her shoulders fell and she look away, an unsure expression on her face. "Look...I just need to go back there; there's something I need to do. I need to leave the past behind me, and there's no better place to do it than there".

Atton looked from Mira to Kallian, silent words seeming to pass between the two women. "Did I miss something, or were you two talking behind my back again?"

Kallian frowned and said mockingly, "Feeling left out Atton? I guess we should've waited for you to wake up rather than drag your ass through the valley".

"So that's where those brush burns came from," he spoke angrily.

"I want to be a Jedi," Mira admitted in a low tone. "If I'm going to do that, I need to be able to let go. I can only do that on Nar Shaddaa".

"And there you have it, Atton," Kallian said sweetly, grinning at the scowling pilot.

"All you need to be a Jedi is a lightsaber in your hand and a spooky voice. I don't see how Nar Shaddaa is going to provide either one of those," he remarked dubiously, but Kallian maintained her cheery expression, patting him on the shoulder like he was a stupid dog.

Mira looked between the two before finally settling on Atton, a wicked grin on her face. "I think you might've left off the most important thing a Jedi requires: a brain. Not surprising though since you lack one," she quipped before turning away. "Well...I'll leave you two to make kissy faces at each other. I don't trust that crazy droid of yours making repairs anyway".

"Huh, she's not so bad...for a Mandalorian," he announced to no one in particular while avoiding Kallian's gaze.

"Better company than you are, that's for sure. That's not saying much though".

"Cut the act, sister. I know you love me. What would you do without me?" he smirked, both amused and frightened over his continued needling of the volatile woman.

"Have some peace of mind, maybe?" Kallian said dryly, giving him a withering look. Her expression faltered though as she realized how insane that idea sounded, the idea that she could ever find peace. Her life would be one of war and revenge with peace only coming when her broken body hit the ground never to rise again.

Atton could see the change in her yellow eyes and remembered that perhaps this was not the best time to joke. "Sorry about your friend," he said simply. He tried to sound sincere because he was sorry in a way, for her sake rather than her murdered friend.

"He wasn't my friend. I didn't like him at all," she responded coldly.

"Well that makes two of us, sneaky little bastard," he said only half in jest.

"Those eerie eyes flashed at his words and her words came out in a sinister hiss, "Shut up, Atton. When I need the opinion of a fool, I'll be sure to ask you for it".

"Relax," he threw up his hands in surrender. "I was just trying to make you feel better".

"Well, great job! What endless talents you have," she mocked before sobering and looking out to the blinding glow of hyperspace. "He tried to kill me, you know...back when he was an assassin. I was a dumb little girl back then, and I let him live. Funny thing is, I guess I killed him in the end anyway".

"This paradise of a galaxy loves to screw with you, right?" Atton said wryly, inwardly cursing at the words that sounded better in his head. Playing the role of the sympathetic, comforting friend was definitely not his forte. "You shouldn't beat yourself up over it. I did, and look at me. Do you really want to be like me?"

"That _is_ a frightening prospect, I admit," she conceded. "Maybe it would be better if you got as far away from me as possible. It would be win/win. You'd have less chance of dying, which seems to occur fairly often when I'm around, and I wouldn't have to suffer through these painful talks we seem to have".

"What's life without a little danger, sister, and for the record, you always come talk to me, not the other way around," Atton argued, his expression smug and superior.

"It says something about the quality of the people who follow me around when I look to you for some decent conversation," she sighed with a shake of her head.

"Oh please, you couldn't live without me," he said confidently.

"These fanciful delusions you have, Atton," she scoffed. "Maybe that Jedi did more damage to your mind than you thought".

"Might have to agree with you there...one Jedi has been driving me crazy for a while now. Any idea who that might be?" he asked nonchalantly, turning away from her.

"Well since Lux is the only Jedi who's been with us..." she trailed off before quickly changing the subject. "So, I noticed you didn't have any witty comments about my eyes".

"What, they're different? I thought you always had those evil Sith eyes. They suit a woman like you" he shrugged, trying to hide the wide grin on his face.

"I think that's the most insulting thing anyone's ever said to me," she snapped back in a wounded tone.

Atton could see the hurt in her eyes and cursed his own callousness. "Look, you know I'm a dumb braggart. I didn't mean it," he apologized quickly with a grimace. "You didn't say nothing about what went down there, so I didn't say nothing either. I know you're no Sith, beautiful".

"There's so much darkness in me, Atton. I've struggled against it for so long, and lost more times than I've won. I'm a cold-hearted, murdering bitch, but I think I'm okay with that now," Kallian said thoughtfully, saying the words almost like a confession. "I'll never be a hero or a saint, but I'll never lose to the dark side again. I know who I am now".

"That's good," Atton smiled as he reached a hand over to her. "I'd rather stand with a murderous bitch than a self-righteous prick of a Jedi any day.

Kallian looked at his outstretched hand for a moment before taking it and gripping it tightly. "I hope you don't come to regret that curious choice of ally," she spoke in a bemused tone, her odd grin both menacing and playful.

"Believe me sister, I don't think that's possible," Atton spoke, and when he looked into her glowing eyes, he saw irises of gold looking back at him.

* * *

Alistair looked grimly at the nervous sister before him, the representative of the Chantry most likely having heard rumors of the short lives members of the clergy tended to have at the royal palace. She was just a little wisp of the girl, young enough that the older priests in the chantry probably faced little resistance in making her the sacrifice.

He was avoiding the eyes of Shianni, who was currently glaring daggers at him, most likely taking a break from wishing death on Elissa Cousland. He had insisted the Arlessa of Denerim be present for the council meeting after the impromptu session that Revan and those Sith of hers had interrupted, something about which the other nobles were not hesitant to show their displeasure. He could not fault her for hating him at the moment, as after all, this was a meeting to plan his marriage to the woman sitting next to him. If she pulled a dagger on him, he had half a mind to show her the weak points in his armor. Death would probably be preferable to sitting through this monotonous council session.

"As I was saying, Your Majesty, the Chantry will have the final say in determining whether you are both suitable for marriage and whether you bask in the Maker's light," the sister continued nervously, hoping not to offend the blankly staring king.

"And what kind of matters determine my...suitability?" he asked, inwardly sighing at the whole process.

"Several things, Majesty, such as your piety toward the Chantry and your Maker and whether you have lived an austere and celibate life before your marriage. You have not sired any bastards, have you?" she asked rather directly, stifling a gasp at her own daring.

"There's just one bastard here that I know of," he grinned, pointing to himself.

"I am...forgive me, Your Majesty. I...I spoke the words without thinking," the sister cringed, wondering if she would be another victim of the demon the older Chantry sisters told her lurked within the palace walls.

"Story of my life, that," he smirked, earning a disapproving glare from Eamon and a stifled laugh from Elissa. Even Shianni dropped her dark scowl for a moment to smile, but quickly readopted it.

"These matters are mere formalities, my boy. There would be no royal houses left in Thedas if the Chantry were more serious about enforcing the laws of matrimony," Eamon said smoothly.

"Yeah, because let me tell you, he won't be no blushing virgin stuttering over his vows," Shianni spoke up in a cold, quiet voice. "Just a blushing idiot stuttering over his vows".

Several of the nobles and the sister looked horrified at her statement as Eamon and Elissa tried to maintain composure. Arl Wulff was ready to pounce on her words and so said mockingly, "We know our king has a taste for elves, so it would not be much of a surprise if he had you both. I suppose sleeping your way into positions of power runs in the family".

"Don't think there was much sleeping involved myself," a minor noble guffawed.

Shianni bristled as Alistair's mouth gaped open, shocked that these nobles would speak such cruel words without any fear of impunity. What was the point of being king if he could not silence knaves such as these? Shianni was the first to respond, her words deadly calm, "Oh, I'm sorry Lord Jonaley, I couldn't hear you with your mouth so tightly wrapped around Wulff's cock. I applaud you for using your baser charms, few as they may be, to ingratiate yourself to the good Arl. Perhaps you were the inspiration for his insult".

Jonaley and Wulff were instantly out of their chairs, the lesser noble even reaching for the hilt of a gaudy, jewel-encrusted sword. Alistair was on his feet only a moment later, shielding the elf woman in case their anger led them to do something foolish. "Both of you will return to your seats and hold your tongues," he snapped, a hint of laughter showing in his eyes at Shianni's daring despite the serious confrontation.

"I will not allow the knife ear to slander me in this manner! Let the bitch defend herself!" Jonaley seethed.

"Remove this man from our presence!" Alistair shouted, incensed at his words. "I will not tolerate this filth to be spoken in my hall!" As he was led away, struggling with every step, the king turned to Arl Wulff and growled, "You will apologize to the Arlessa".

"And what of her? I do not forget slights against my honor, boy," he spoke the words dangerously, looking at Alistair with contempt.

"If you had any honor, you would know not to speak such heinous words against your peers. An insult aimed at my friend and sister is an insult aimed at me...now apologize, Arl Wulff," he stated again.

"I beg your pardon, my lady," the bearded man said with a slight bow. "My words bring shame upon me. I am truly sorry".

Alistair hoped Shianni would accept his hollow words and let the matter die, but Shianni was not one to forgive so easily. "You do not have my pardon, Arl. Save your honeyed words for the flies you attract".

Wulff bristled but made no comment as he bowed stiffly and walked from the room in a dignified manner. The old man knew of course that leaving without the permission of the king was a grave insult, but Alistair could only glare as the Arl threw open the great, oak doors and stalked out. Looking over to Eamon, he saw the man who was more of a father to him than anyone with one hand perched on his creased brow, his eyes hidden as he looked away in disgust. The Chantry sister looked lost, her wide eyes looking from the king to the retreating Arl as she struggled to find something to say.

Alistair grimaced, angry and discouraged that his council could not even hold a simple meeting to go over the initial details of the wedding without another altercation. "I think it would be better to continue this meeting later when some of our tempers have cooled," he said flatly before leaving his seat, abandoning the nobles who would surely take the opportunity to share jokes and criticism at his expense.

It was not long before Shianni came to him, the small elf studying him like she was looking upon a particularly undesirable vermin. The two of them were so similar, Alistair mused, that they could have been sisters rather than cousins. The look they shared when they were unhappy with something, or in this case someone, could frighten a darkspawn, the chill in their eyes freezing the blood of anyone they looked upon.

"How can you be marrying one of _them_, Alistair? I thought you loved Kallian. I still believe you do!" Shianni yelled, her eyes filled with fury.

Alistair could have laughed. Shianni was never one for mincing words. She was direct and straight to the point. He looked away from her, afraid to look into those eyes so filled with betrayal and rage. He tried to sound placating and understanding, but all he heard in his voice as he answered was anger and annoyance, "I know how you feel, but I have no choice! Do you think I want to do this, to be forced into this marriage?"

"Don't lie to me. I've seen how you look at that shem woman, even when Kallian was still here!" Shianni spat accusingly as Alistair looked at her in shock.

"That is a lie, and you know it!" he growled back, struggling and failing to keep his voice from rising. "I love Kallian. I know you never approved of the two of us together. You must be happy to finally have your opportunity to tear into me. Well, go on and do it!"

Shianni looked like she would slap him, and he half expected her to do it. Only Shianni would be bold enough to strike the king. "So its my fault then. You're such a child, blaming the failures of your own doing on someone else. Why don't you take a good look at yourself, but take care as you might not recognize the man staring back at you".

"If I've changed, it's because I have responsibilities now! I never wanted to be king, but I am now, and there's nothing I can do about it! Can't you even try to understand?" he pleaded, his angry eyes now bearing the look of a defeated man.

"Kallian wanted you to be king because she thought you were a good man and that you'd do the right thing," Shianni spoke in a low tone, losing the rage for a moment. "If you do this, everything will go back to the way it was. What can we hope for without Kallian? It's only a matter of time before the nobles decide to put us in our place again".

"You're a noble, Shianni. You can stand in their way," he argued with little actual belief in his words.

She scoffed at the empty reassurance, adopting a condescending tone as she spoke, "Oh, I'm sure upstanding and chivalrous nobles like Jonaley and Wulff will graciously accept my continued stewardship of the capital. I'm not stupid, Alistair. I hear the gossip that goes around even if they keep me out of their meetings. Maybe I should just give up and make my last act as Arlessa the construction of a new alienage they can all lock us in".

"I'm not going to let that happen, Shianni. Believe me," Alistair vowed.

"Yeah, because your word is worth so much after this marriage fiasco," she spat. "They know how pliant and easily influenced you are, and I have no doubt you'll give in surrounded by racists like Braden and bootlickers like Eamon. You better hope Kallian doesn't come back cause she'll murder you when she sees this".

She turned to leave, but Alistair grabbed her arm to prevent her departure. She struggled against his grip, but he held firm, placing a hand on her shoulder as she turned to face him. "Why can't you trust me, Shianni? You know I'm not that kind of person," he asked in a miserable voice.

She looked back at him with disappointment and anger, but pity also shone in her cold, blue eyes so much like Kallian's. "Do you really think that I would let a human man touch me if I didn't trust him?" she asked icily.

Alistair looked to his hand locked around Shianni's tiny wrist and blanched at the thought of what he looked like now. "Shianni, I'm sorry...I didn't mean," he apologized with a pained expression but the elf woman waived his words away.

He made to let go of her arm, but Shianni placed a hand on his and held it there. "I know you are a good man, Alistair. My cousin wouldn't be such an idiot to fall for a no good shem. You're also a fool though, and you let people who don't care about you to influence you. Please...please don't do this. Please wait until Kallian returns," she pleaded.

"I think Alistair can make his own decisions," a familiar voice spoke coldly, causing both Alistair and Shianni to seek out the speaker. A stone-faced Elissa greeted them, her arms crossed over her chest and her lips pressed so tightly together that they appeared white.

"Skulking around again where you're not wanted, Elissa?" Shianni spoke with disdain. "It's impolite to eavesdrop you know, but I don't doubt you'd stoop even lower to get what you want".

Elissa regarded the smaller woman like she was observing a particularly disgusting bug. The nerve of this so-called noble speaking to her this way galled her, and if Alistair were not present, she would inform the trumped-up elf of how low she truly stood. By accident of birth and a coincidental relationship to the Hero of Ferelden she had been raised high, but noble trappings could not hide the street rat she was. "It is not 'eavesdropping' when you are screaming so loud everyone in the great hall can hear you," she said reproachfully, earning a pair of blushes. "And as I said, it is not for you to decide who Alistair can marry".

"No, it's Eamon and Fergus who made the decision to whore you out," Shianni sneered with contempt, bracing herself for the inevitable slap.

Alistair was not fast enough to stop her as Elissa struck the elven woman across the face, her expression furious as she whispered, "You vile woman, how dare you!"

"You're the one whose vile...waiting to pounce as soon as Kallian was out of the picture. I'm sure an hour hadn't passed before you tried to get him out of his smallclothes," Shianni uttered scornfully, an angry red mark already appearing on her cheek.

Elissa's face grew redder as she swelled with fury, her eye twitching as she looked to be seriously considering killing the smirking elf standing in front of her. Just as it looked like she would explode, she sighed and composed herself, her eyes adopting a haughty look as she said in a sickly sweet voice, "The bridesmaid dress I selected for you is quite beautiful, so much so that even you should be able to make an impression in it. It is a shame that nothing can be done to improve that mouth of yours, but I suppose no one will be expecting engaging conversation from you".

With that last cutting remark, she turned and stormed away leaving a bewildered Alistair and a scowling Shianni. She scoffed as Elissa turned the corner, saying, "Nobles always have to get in the last word, don't they? You see what kind of woman she is?"

"Well you did provoke her," Alistair reminded her. "That tongue of yours is sharper than any blade".

"If I thought I could get away with it, I would do more than provoke her," she threatened. "Well enjoy your evening, Alistair. I'm sure it won't be long before the bitch comes to complain about that horrible knife ear not knowing her place".

"I don't think Elissa is like that. She's a good person...and a loyal friend," Alistair said in defense of her.

Shianni just rolled her eyes before saying bitterly, "All nobles are the same. Maybe you should listen to those who actually care about you instead of those who just want something from you". She left without another word, leaving Alistair alone with his doubts.

* * *

Pointless. That was the only word Lux could think of to describe the battle as he sliced his blue saber through the blaster of another of the nameless horde of Vaklu's troops. The weapon exploded in a red fireball, the howling grunt reaching to his burned hand as fire consumed the sleeve of his tunic. Lux swept his saber over the man's throat, leaving a blackened ruin of cauterized vessels and sizzling flesh, but the soldier only fell to his knees, clutching his gaping throat with an equally mutilated hand. The Exile took a step to move on, but sympathy held him back, forcing him to turn and plunge his saber through the center of the fallen man's chest, killing him instantly. No one deserved to suffer meaningless pain at death.

"Master Kavar," Lux said in greeting with more than a little mockery, stepping over the body at his feet. "I suppose we can finish our little talk now".

"Impatient as ever I see, Lux Vulnus," the master spoke with a smile. "We have a lot to talk about it seems".

"Not as much as you would think. All I want to know is why you betrayed me. I called you friend at one time, and I thought you felt the same," the Exile spoke quickly, his fists clenching at his sides.

Kavar sighed and seemed to look past Lux, his eyes focused on something far away. "The whole truth will have to wait until I meet with the rest of the Council, but I can tell you something about our reasons". Lux waited as an uncomfortable Kavar put a hand through his glistening hair. "You were the only one to return from Revan's war of those who disobeyed the Council's command. If we could not reach Revan and Malak, you would be punished in their place. Atris was dogged in this belief, and we acquiesced".

"So you're telling me I was a scapegoat?" a shocked Lux whispered, eyeing his former friend disbelievingly. "Well for what it's worth, at least you're honest, old friend". He spoke the last like a curse.

"Perhaps your punishment was excessive considering the circumstances and the backlash against the Jedi that followed Revan's treachery, but you were still in the wrong. You swore an oath to uphold the Code and broke it. We were within our rights to judge you, though I regret how we undertook such a duty," Kavar admitted, a small tinge of regret in his words but also unshakable resolve.

"The young members of the Order look to the Council for wisdom and guidance. It is your place to provide it, and I think you failed in that. No, I know you failed, just look at the Order, the Council is all that's left of it!" he yelled angrily, turning the attention of those in the room to the pair. "When it came to war, you should have died first protecting your charges, not hiding in these backwaters on the far side of the Rim!"

"You were not around when the Sith emerged from deep space. Half the Order was on Katarr when they left the planet a lifeless rock. It was foolhardy to charge lightsabers blazing against a foe we knew nothing about. Patience and wisdom is what has kept the Jedi alive," the master insisted.

"The Jedi are dead! What's left are shades fighting meaningless battles in the middle of nowhere when they should be confronting the Sith!" the Exile seethed, sticking an accusing finger in Kavar's face.

The master brushed it aside with a look of annoyance and continued, "As you did with Revan? Look how that worked out: whole planets destroyed, the Order shamed, and the Republic on the precipice of destruction. We both knew what Revan was, and yet you went off with her anyway".

"We both knew what Revan was? Well apparently that would be a hero if the holonet is to be believed," he scoffed.

"A spoiled, little brat would be more like it. Even as a child she showed signs of darkness: the arrogance, willfulness, and contempt for those weaker than her, and yet her masters were blinded by her talent and ensnared by her charisma," he spoke with avid dislike. "I warned you not to listen to her; I warned you that her pride and ambition would be the undoing of us all, but you did not listen. Your war was more important than the advice of a friend, and look what became of your choice".

"Last I checked, Revan killed Malak and saved the Republic," Lux said pointedly.

"Not by choice, believe me," Kavar said cryptically. "Revan stayed sane just long enough to stop Malak and then disappeared back into the Unknown Regions. Force only knows what she is doing out there".

"It's funny you should speak of Revan like that considering you were in line to lead the Jedi if it came to war with the Mandalorians. Do you really think anything would have been different if we waited for the Council to wake up?"

"The wise look to the future, not dwell on what could have been in the past. The true threat the Council foresaw has now revealed itself, and few of us remain to face it," the master spoke gravely. "When the reunited Council meets on Dantooine, we can discuss this further. Maybe with the other masters present, you will understand why we needed to take the action we did".

"That's not good enough," Lux stated quickly, placing a hand on his shoulder to stay his departure. "I want an answer. Tell me honestly, if you were at Malachor what would you have done?"

Kavar gave him a hard look, almost pitying in a way, before pulling his shoulder from the Exile's grasp. "If I had led the Jedi, there never would have been a Malachor".

As he walked away, Lux said loudly, "If you had led the Jedi, there would be no Coruscant, old friend". He knew Kavar heard his spiteful words, but the Jedi Master continued walking, his aura in the Force serene and untroubled.

As he continued to watch his former friend as he walked further away, Brianna appeared at his shoulder, her silver eyes filled with concern. "Are you alright, Lux?" she asked.

"What hope is left for the Jedi with leaders like these?" he despaired, fixing a haunted look on a surprised Brianna. "Is purity and devotion to the Code so important, that the Republic and the Jedi can be sacrificed on an altar to it? It's funny you know...the Great Sith War pitted friend against friend, master against student, even husband against wife, but the Jedi fought desperately to redeem them because they loved them so much. Friendship is a hollow word to the Jedi now and love a heresy. How can we hope to serve the light if we can't even feel...to sympathize with the downtrodden or see the good in our enemies?"

Brianna was silent for a moment before she whispered, "Master Kavar and Mistress Atris were dear to you, but no longer?"

"The war laid waste to friendships just as it did to the galaxy itself. I made my choice, and they made theirs. I don't miss them as much as I thought I would...the wounds are too deep," Lux sighed, not really wanting to talk about his old friends.

"Mistress Atris misses you terribly...I know she does. She cares for you deeply, but her loyalty to the Jedi takes precedence," Brianna disputed.

"Atris is loyal only to Atris," Lux said with contempt. "She was the one who argued most stridently for punishing me. There was no forgiveness and no compassion in her then, and away from the Jedi she has grown cold and bitter".

"She was angry that you left. She did not want you to go with Revan," the Handmaiden continued quietly, avoiding Lux's increasingly dark gaze.

"A better man might understand why she did it and forgive her, but I think I'm more like Atris than I care to admit. She will have no forgiveness from me, and never again shall I call her friend," he admitted before looking at her apologetically. "I'm sorry, Brianna".

"I have never known a better man than you. Revan held vengeance in her heart and it destroyed her, but you are not like her. You are a Jedi in every sense of the word despite what Mistress Atris, Kavar, and the rest of the Council say. Your revenge will be showing them the wisdom they lacked when casting you out of the Order, and they will know that they were wrong. Where their penance will be admitting a grievous error, yours will be finding it in you to forgive their transgressions," she spoke with fervor, certain that he would do the right thing.

"You think too much of me. I'll try not to leave you disappointed," he smiled, giving her a flirtatious wink.

"There is no try," she reminded him all the while bearing a sly grin. "Keep that in mind".

He smiled as she walked away, silver eyes holding his gaze for as long as they could, but the contentment he felt was quickly tempered as a brown-robed figure came to stand at his side. "I was wondering where you went off to, Kreia," he spoke evenly without looking at the cloaked woman.

"I doubt you required my aid in dealing with these simpletons. I may follow you, but I refuse to become involved in these petty conflicts of yours especially between two insignificant players on a barren game board. Onderon is a useless prize. If Kavar was wise, he would not concern himself with the squabbling of these fools," Kreia stated dismissively.

"Just one more master to go then...Atris not included of course," he sighed.

"Yes, everything is coming together. What has been done here will bring all of this to an end. You must be ready," she spoke cryptically.

"I thought you said nothing of importance was accomplished here? If you're going to go the wise and spooky route, best not contradict yourself when you're doing it," he chided with a grin.

To his surprise, she turned to him and smiled, but there was no warmth in her expression. "Beginners to Dejarik always make the mistake that the object of the game is defeating their opponent, but a master knows that the object is having your opponent defeat herself".

"Thanks for the advice," Lux said dryly, "but is that supposed to mean something outside of playing a game?"

"Life is a game where the price of defeat is death. I have made it certain that when you meet your enemy, you need not fear failure," Kreia answered. "Let us go to Dantooine, and you will know what you must do".

* * *

"So...I've been meaning to ask you about this strange Force of yours. Not that your strange or anything. I didn't mean it like that. Sorry," the tattooed elf babbled, looking a bit stricken.

Revan merely sighed, cognizant of the many obvious looks the elf girl had given her. Her name was Merrill she believed, and she constantly looked like a lost puppy, completely reliant on Hawke's benevolence for her continued survival. "Ask your question," she said sharply, causing the elf to flinch and giggle nervously.

"I just wondered, you see, if you could explain about your 'Force' a little bit. I'm very interested in old magic, and I hoped...maybe we could talk together about it," she said quietly.

"The Force is not magic," she snapped, the anger in her voice attracting the attention of the others. "It is life. The Force is generated by life, and some are attuned to it so that they can wield its power".

"So then...I have the Force within me?" Merrill asked shyly.

"Yes, every living being is connected to the Force, and it cannot exist without life to sustain it," Revan explained quickly. "Only a few though, have the ability to tap into the power of the Force and use it to affect the world around them. The power to control the Force is extremely rare, so much so that millions can be born with no Force sensitive among them".

"I suppose it makes you feel superior to us then, having this unholy power within you? What other purpose could we mere mortals have than to serve you and answer to your every whim?" Fenris called back from his position beside Hawke, an ugly sneer marring his face.

"Why would it make me feel superior? Whether the Force is strong with an individual is random, determined by the very cells that all of us are made up of," she said dismissively, and seeing the looks of confusion on everyone, she continued in an exasperated tone. "In your blood, I mean. Anyway, the Jedi would say that being gifted with the Force vests a duty in that person to serve others, not rule over them. You people have strange ideas about power and the right to rule. Leaders are not born, but made. Merit is the sole factor in determining whether a person should rule or not".

"It's you who has strange ideas. Next you'll be saying that the people should choose their leaders," Hawke said sarcastically.

"That is exactly what I am saying. It has always been that way where I am from," Revan explained.

"Hmm, the art of politics is already pretty much a popularity contest to begin with. It might be fun to see who would win the office of Viscount. My money's on the proprietor of the Blooming Rose," Varric spoke up.

"Half of the drunks in the Hanged Man would make a better Viscount than what we got now," Hawke pointed out.

"Wise words, my friend," Varric nodded approvingly.

"And what's to stop blood mages from simply manipulating the masses to support them? With mages like you free, I can't see any alternative to mage rule just like the magisters in Tevinter," Fenris spat bitterly.

"Maybe if we had some mages in a position of leadership, we'd actually have someone standing up for our rights. Outside Tevinter we're the ones who are persecuted," Anders reminded the scowling elf.

"We've seen what happens when mages are allowed to do as they wish: enslaving those without magic, summoning demons into our world, becoming abominations, sullying the Golden City, and instigating the blights. Truly a record to be proud of, I'm sure," Fenris sneered.

"My kind are...discouraged from entering politics. The Order sees itself as being above such mundane matters of government," the masked woman offered with a shrug.

"The Order?" Hawke repeated in a questioning tone.

"The body that directs the majority of my kind. The Jedi Order fancies itself the guardian and protector of my...homeland," she said darkly. "The Jedi Council are hypocrites though, involving themselves in the affairs of state and seeking to influence through so-called wise advice".

"And if you went against their wishes?" Aveline spoke up, still regarding the cloaked woman warily.

"Expulsion from the Order most likely," Revan answered nonchalantly.

"It sounds like this Order of yours is like a more independent Circle," Anders commented with interest. "How did you come to join it?"

"Most, like me, were taken from our parents as young children once our powers were discovered. We were trained at the Temple to control our powers and to use them in the service of our nation," she answered reluctantly, growing increasingly annoyed with the series of questions.

"Perhaps I was wrong then; it sounds exactly like the Circle," Anders spoke angrily. "Stealing children from their parents, destroying families...I am very familiar with such practices".

"You misunderstand by letting your own preconceptions blind you," Revan chastised. "It is entirely voluntary, but most parents would be proud to have a Jedi in the family. It is a great honor apparently. I am sure my parents felt the same way".

"You never knew them?" Aveline questioned.

"The Jedi discourage attachment, believing that strong emotions inherent in such relationships are a danger. Unbridled passions lead to the dark side, so it is forbidden for a Jedi to love or form strong bonds with others".

"I don't think I'm misunderstanding anything. The templars are very clear about preventing relationships between mages in the Circle. It sounds exactly the same," Anders remarked, his condescending tone grating on Revan's nerves.

"It was not always that way. A half-century ago, two Jedi Knights names Exar Kun and Ulic Qel-Droma fell to the dark side and plunged our nation into a war. The war devastated the borderlands and shocked the Council. They swore to prevent just such a betrayal in the future by banning marriage among the Jedi and keeping closer watch on the trainees to prevent strong relationships from forming between them. It was ironic given the future Grandmaster of the Order already had a child during the war. Needless to say, the restrictions failed to prevent the fall of others...in fact, their foolish plan led to disaster," the masked woman spoke spitefully, remembering the simpering faces of the idiot masters on the Council.

"You keep speaking of a 'dark side'; is that like blood magic or consorting with demons?" Aveline continued to question, wanting to gauge how much of a danger this woman was to the city.

"The Force is said to be made up of light and dark with the light gaining strength from selflessness, charity, and heroism while the dark is fueled by wickedness, cruelty, and a lust for power," Revan answered like a lecturing teacher. "The dark side warps the mind of the individual who taps into its power, twisting their thoughts and desires and corrupting everything that once made them good. Those who have fallen completely may seem rational and in control, but in reality they are incapable of thinking logically, their minds consumed by insanity and an unquenchable desire for more power. They are monsters enslaved to the insidious will of the dark side, unable of recognizing friend from foe".

"Abominations," Fenris finished quietly. "You may refer to your magic by another name, but the end result of using it is the same regardless. No mage can control the power within them. They must be watched and controlled".

"Only mages that foolishly make deals with demons are at risk of that," Anders retorted, looking pointedly at a downcast Merrill. "What does your Order do with the ones who fall to this 'dark side'?

Revan shrugged at the question, "It depends. They will first try to redeem them, and if that fails, they take more extreme measures. For example, Exar Kun made his last stand on Yavin while the Order rained fire on him, rendering the area uninhabitable. Ulic Qel-Droma, on the other hand, was stripped of the Force and sent into exile to live a poor and pathetic existence. Others still have had their minds destroyed and replaced with servile personalities, utterly compelled to serve the Order and never rebel. The Jedi are loath to kill their enemies, so they rationalize carrying out far worse punishments on those who stray".

The party was silent for a long while, thinking over what horrors could be inflicted on those who defied this Jedi Order. Revan was the first to speak, directing her words at Anders with a sneer, "You mages are so dedicated to winning autonomy for your people. Imagine what lengths you will be forced to go to in order to convince the masses that you are not a threat and what horrors you must inflict to satiate the hunger for vengeance among the very same".

"But you have the power to control minds, right? Do they not fear you for this ability?" Merrill asked in a quiet voice.

"The Jedi like to say that the Force only affects the weak minded. Most people would be hesitant to include themselves in such an ignominious category," she said, gesturing to the side. All in the party suddenly turned to where she moved her hand, a loud noise attracting their attention. "In reality, with enough power, it becomes possible to dominate the consciousness of even the strongest willed. That sound you heard, for instance, only existed in your minds".

Fenris growled, not pleased to have his mind manipulated by this witch. "You play a dangerous game, maleficar. We have dealt with those who use blood magic in the past".

Revan looked to the others, all of whom seemed a little shaken over her display of power. She grinned, taking pleasure in her fear even as her better half scolded her for being so childish, but she quickly sobered. "I would never take over another's mind. I may influence and trick, but to force another to serve me is...repugnant to everything I believe. I would wish such a fate on no one, not even my greatest enemies".

"Why should we believe you, maleficar? Should I rely on the false sincerity you wear as a mask rather than the demon I know lies beneath?" Fenris spat.

"You were a slave once, correct?" Revan murmured. "You won your freedom, but imagine if running from your master was impossible. Imagine that the will to escape was stripped from your mind, making you a slave in both mind and body. You cannot understand what it is like to have your body and soul violated, your mind raped by those who care nothing for your suffering, to have everything that you are erased and replaced with a willing stooge. The masters of the Jedi are capable of this and rationalize it as a merciful gesture by allowing their enemies to live. No one who looked upon such an cruel punishment could ever stomach the forced servitude of one to another".

"Like a tranquil," Anders whispered.

"I cannot look upon those abominations your idiotic religion creates," Revan seethed. "What evil mind could ever condone such a grotesque punishment? Better to die than be locked away in your own mind, forced to watch as another controls your body like a puppet. If only you could see with the Force, you would know how wrong they feel, living but not alive, wounds in the very fabric of existence. All sacrificed to your nonexistent god, no that is wrong, all sacrificed to the power of the dark side ".

"Good thing Sebastian isn't here. He might have had a heart attack about that last part," Varric spoke first through the aura of gloom that had descended with her words.

"Well, if you can make us hear things that aren't really there, can you tell what I'm thinking now?" the elf girl asked enthusiastically.

Revan caught her vivid green eyes with her dark visor and for a moment, Merrill thought the woman was looking through her. "You think we are similar because of the abilities your blood magic bestows upon you. It comforts you, believing that there are others with such power who have not been corrupted by it. Also, your mind dwells on whether you made the right decision to leave your clan to restore the Eluvian. You long to return to your people, but your pride prevents this long sought after reunion," Revan spoke as the elf girl flinched, not prepared to have her innermost thoughts revealed. "However, the answer I believe you expected is 'butterflies' correct? Would anyone else like their secret thoughts and feelings revealed?"

A long, uncomfortable silence followed before Varric spoke up, "I think that's a no. That's quite a skill though...it'd probably be a hit at parties".

"Or useful in a game of cards, and no dwarf, I will not be helping you in that particular endeavor," Revan needled.

"That too, and I have no idea what you are talking about. To slight my honor in that way, insinuating that I cheat, how dare you," Varric smirked.

As they rounded a corner, Revan looked up and saw a huge building, for the standards of this world, towering over the opulent mansions of Kirkwall's highborn. Three towers rose up from a great staircase, each carved from blinding white stone with windows of multicolored glass reflecting the sun's rays. Delicate flying buttresses ran along sides of a great hall like the ribs of an ancient leviathan, supporting the spires as they reached for the sky. It was ostentatious and overdone, like its builders wanted those who looked upon it to feel inferior and powerless. It could only be one of two things, Revan concluded, the palace of this city's ruler, or far more likely, the seat of the Chantry in this part of the world.

"I need to see Sebastian about something in the Chantry before I get the papers on the Enigma. You can all wait out here if you want. I doubt you want to grace the Grand Cleric with your presence, Revan," Hawke said dryly.

"On the contrary, I have never been in one of these chantries. I feel it will be quite enlightening to observe the oppressor from within," she responded airily.

"Hawke, I don't think this is a very good idea," Aveline warned.

"Why? A chantry's the last place you'd expect a maleficar, right?" he remarked wryly.

"I can go unseen when I desire to. I doubt I will attract any attention, but..." she shrugged, one gloved hand reaching up to her mask. A snap and a hiss of pressurized air sounded as she removed the menacing cover, her other hand pulling down the black hood from her equally dark hair. She shrugged off the billowing cloak and wrapped it around her arm, feeling many eyes on her revealed form. "Better to be safe than sorry, correct?"

She knew they were surprised, and by what she felt from the scantily clad woman, slightly repulsed. She saw their eyes linger on the vicious scar that descended from her cheek far down below her neck and the puckered, pink skin surrounding her eye, the burns just another reminder of the tenacity of Mandalorian resistance. Malak had told her they found her facedown in a shattered mess of circuit boards and sparking wire, drifting in the wreck of her fighter after an ambush. She had been young then and vain, the thought of removing those bandages and seeing that ruined visage looking back at her painful to bear. Malak had helped her through it, saying she was still beautiful. She knew he was lying. It was painful for him to, looking at her scarred face, but he stayed with her, and that was all that mattered. She was older now, and these old wounds had become a part of her. She was proud to bear them.

"Wow, looks like someone had a bad run in with a dragon," the woman with the blue bandana observed. "Oops, forgot to keep that thought private. Tact, Isabella, tact!"

"More like a few run ins," Revan smirked, not considering the meaningless woman worth her offense. From the expressions on their faces, they did not know whether she was being serious or not. She brushed strands of her stringy, black hair away from her eyes, the storm gray orbs impossible to read.

They entered the chantry and proceeded past several clerics, the women not able to disguise their expressions of distaste at the motley assortment, most of their disgust reserved for the elves in the party. She was sure some of their contempt stemmed from the young girl's set of beliefs, evident by the tattoos that snaked across her face like vines, but most of what she felt was simple chauvinism, a foolish belief that their race somehow made them superior. When they looked upon her, the averted their eyes after only a moment, the revulsion they felt upon glimpsing her scarred face obvious. The braver ones slyly looked back at her only to have cold, piercing eyes glare back at them, holding their gaze until they shivered in fear.

She heard raised voices coming from the dais in the center of the chancel as they climbed a steep, worn staircase, her curious eyes darting to the source of the argument and finding two women standing close to one another, the one with clenched fists and a dark scowl hurling bitter words at the older woman.

The younger woman looked like her face was carved from stone, cold and harsh, with shards of ice for eyes and a thin mouth that looked like a smile had never graced it. She was dressed in elaborate armor with red and black fabric falling from her waist, her status as a templar obvious from the flaming sword emblazoned on her breastplate. She felt like a blazing nova in the Force, anger and bitterness making up the whole of her being. A touch of madness or more accurately fanaticism lingered on the edge of her mind, but she seemed mostly in control of her faculties, at least for the moment.

The older woman wore red and black robes of rich and luxurious fabric, a golden threaded sun sewn into the front. She had a kind and understanding face, but Revan could feel the weariness and barely concealed irritation bubbling just below the surface. She seemed to be at war with herself over something, the two sides of her mind constantly battling to come to a final conclusion, but Revan could readily see her indecisive nature, and whatever troubled her would surely not be resolved soon.

She grew more interested when she heard her name thrown around by the armored woman like a curse and listened closely to the end of their testy exchange. "I am not chasing rumors, Your Grace. I have sworn testimony from sisters of the Fereldan chantry that the demon Revan has not only appeared in the capital but walks the halls of the royal palace with impunity! The fool king who reigns under her thrall allowed the Grand Cleric to be slain in his presence and did nothing! If the templars of Ferelden are shirking their duty, the Maker demands that we carry out his will".

"I am well aware of the tragic events that transpired in Denerim, Meredith, but I have word that a Seeker is already present there and reporting directly to the Divine. If the Divine wishes for us to take action, she will surely inform us in due time," the old woman stated in a motherly tone.

"Ferelden is a rogue nation filled with all manner of heretical filth! Would you have us sit here like blind fools while another Tevinter rises in the south?" she spat. "If we do not act now, the mages will surely come to us with armies of puppets enslaved by blood magic, and we will be powerless to stop them! The Maker demands action!"

The old woman's eyes flashed as she spoke in a low, even tone to the seething templar, "Do you claim to know our Maker's wishes, Meredith? Only His bride Andraste knew of what the Maker spoke and what He sought for us. You make a mockery of the Maker when you dare to put words in His mouth".

"The Maker's will is clear through the Chant. Those who use forbidden magic are cursed by Him and must be cast into the Void lest the further disgrace the wonder of His creation. We would be negligent, perhaps even sinful, to ignore the corruption festering in the south. Surely you must see this? For the love of the Maker, give me leave to put an end to this Revan forever," she begged in zealous tones.

"The old woman was unmoved by her words. "You shall not have it...not until we receive further instructions from the Divine. I will not have Kirkwall thrust into a war with Ferelden unless an Exalted March is called, and then we will know that the Maker approves of our undertakings. Now please, Meredith, be a good girl and return to the Gallows".

This Meredith looked like she wanted to continue the argument, but she bowed her head in a gesture none would interpret as respectful and stormed off, her eyes sweeping over Hawke's party as she passed. Her eyes lingered on Merrill, the Dalish tattoos a clear indicator that she was looking at a heathen, but she made no comment as she descended the stairs, leaving a trail of rage in the Force. She failed to even notice the woman who was the source of her fury, and not just Revan savored the irony.

"And I thought Kirkwall had problems with blood mages. Seems like Denerim is determined to give us a run for our coin," Hawke spoke to the gray-haired woman.

"This is no laughing matter. I pray to the Maker that the Divine considers the matter carefully. There is far too much history between Orlais and Ferelden, and if it comes to war, the Free Marches will surely be sucked in as well. If the Qunari were not enough, now we must become involved in the affairs of other nations," she spoke grimly, looking much smaller and more haggard than during her argument with the templar. "Did you need something, child?"

"Just here to see Sebastian and for your blessing, of course," he smiled gallantly.

"The old woman looked warmly at him, like a mother looking proudly at her son, but a shadow quickly darkened her expression. "I hope that Sebastian is not further involving himself in that dreadful affair. No good can come from revenge. I would hope you know that also".

"As you say, Your Grace. I asked Sebastian to look over some ancient texts I uncovered around Kirkwall, nothing more," he lied.

"It is well then. That boy has a good heart; it would pain me to see him led astray by the wicked actions of others," the Grand Cleric nodded.

Revan watched as Hawke brought this Sebastian over, the handsome man clad in utterly garish armor of pure white and gold. She supposed it made sense for a religious man to adopt a color usually associated with goodness, but it would just make him an easier target in battle. She really had little room to criticize though as she remembered the glaring white and red that Republic troopers wore so proudly.

"Hawke, you brought the whole family with you," the auburn-haired man spoke kindly, looking over the group accompanying him

"Well, they all missed you so much, Sebastian," Hawke observed dryly, earning several eye rolls from the gallery.

Either Sebastian was ignorant of the man's sarcasm or intentionally chose to ignore it as he said warmly, "It is good to have friends that enjoy my company then. I am honored". His eyes fell on Revan then and he spoke in a welcoming tone, "I am sorry, but I do not think I have ever had the pleasure of your acquaintance. Are you a friend of Hawke's?"

"He offered to help me. I accepted his aid," she said glibly, ignoring the hand he extended to her. He held it out much longer than she expected, and the situation quickly grew awkward.

"I am sorry if I have offended you, my lady," Sebastian said apologetically after lowering his hand finally.

"We are not friends. You do not have to extend these empty courtesies on my behalf. I neither wish for them nor welcome them," she went on in a sharp tone, gray eyes narrowed with disdain.

"Might I know your name at least, my lady," he said quietly, looking slightly put out.

The others looked at her expectantly and she sighed, wondering how much of a fool they must think she was if they thought she would use _that _name. "Nox," she said finally, grimacing at the use of the false name the masters gave her in the wake of Malak's betrayal.

"A strange name. You must be from a faraway land," he surmised.

"It means night, and yes, I hail from a far off nation, beyond the greatest distance you people have explored," Revan explained.

"It certainly suits you, one so dark eyed and raven haired with skin that looks like it has never seen the sun," he commented as several members of the party chuckled.

"Sebastian, really...I thought you had taken vows!" Varric grinned. "If it takes one dark beauty to knock you off the horse, well...I don't know if I can ever believe in what the Chantry preaches again".

"I meant nothing of the sort," the brother said dismissively, "and you know that, Varric. I hope this does not give you any ideas for your _friend fictions_ as you call them".

"Choirboy, I wouldn't dream of it. The entire point of those stories is passion and excitement, which you, sorry to say, lack," the dwarf shrugged.

Turning to Hawke, Sebastian's expression grew more serious, much uncertainty appearing in his bright eyes. "These papers speak of dark places best left forgotten, Hawke. Kirkwall has always been at the mercy of the foulest demons from the Fade, and I would not wish any friend of mine to go seeking them out. Being a mage, you should no the danger better than most," he cautioned.

"Sebastian, I'm touched; I never knew you cared," Hawke smirked. "But anyway, I'm not going to go sell my soul to just any demon. I need one with a good personality, lots of coin, preferably a steady job..."

"I see you are as serious as ever, my friend," Sebastian observed good-naturedly, taking his sarcasm in stride. "I just wanted to warn you. It might be better to inform the Knight-Commander of this and let her handle it rather than put yourself at risk".

"This isn't exactly my idea. Our friend over here is looking for sources of dark power, and Varric wanted to tag along with her. You can't expect me to let someone like Varric go alone, can you? I can't even leave him alone at the Hanged Man lest he drown in a keg of cheap booze".

"Wouldn't be a bad death, but thanks for the vote of confidence anyway, Hawke," the dwarf said dryly.

"Searching for sources of dark power?" the Chantry brother questioned with a raised eyebrow. "Is there a reason you seek such a thing, my lady?"

"Just a hobby of mine really," Revan remarked airily. "Demons and monsters and all manner of evil things might lurk there. How exciting!"

"Truly, I do not know whether you jest or speak seriously," Sebastian admitted, his expression wary.

Revan knew what he was thinking and what he thought she was. He apparently had little faith in the ability of his friend Hawke to avoid entanglements with dangerous blood mages. "But my dear Sebastian," she spoke warmly, "there is far more truth in the jokes we tell than in the grave words we share. I mean to find the source of corruption under this disgusting city, learn what it is, and destroy it. I do not know what I will find there, but I am sure that it will be entertaining".

The smile she wore as the last word left her lips stretched across her face in a manic grin. Those standing around her were not sure that this woman's expedition was complete madness, but none doubted in that moment that insanity lay behind those gleeful eyes she bore.

* * *

Kallian threw open the hidden door to Atris' lair, the shrieking sound of metal tearing from its hinges ensuring that everyone inside would be aware of her presence if they were not already. She had brooded during the long trip from Nar Shaddaa on their stolen freighter what she would do when she finally confronted the Jedi Master turned Sith and concluded that she would face her alone and kill her if she could. She insisted that Atton and Mira remain behind, afraid that they would just be targets when faced with another Sith Lord. She descended the staircase quickly, rolling under an attack just as she reached the interior of the base.

Igniting her lightsaber, she blocked another blow from the front, her three opponents surrounding her. All were similarly clad in the hooded, white garments the Handmaiden always wore and wielding her preferred weapon as well. She supposed these were the sisters she spoke of in passing, the ones who ostracized her because of their father's indiscretion. With the exception of the snow-white hair and shining silver eyes, they looked nothing like the Echani woman she often sparred with both physically and verbally. She knew the bitch would probably be a tad upset if she hurt any of them, so she would try to be gentle.

They were not making it easy as they attacked from multiple angles, the electrified staffs they used hard to deal with, especially at range. She spun her lightsaber in wide strokes around her body, knocking their weapons away even as she twisted to defend against another strike from behind. Reversing her grip on the cool hilt of her weapon and bringing it close to her body, she completed the twirl with a punishing kick to the head of one of her attackers. Grabbing the fallen woman's weapon before she collapsed on the ground, she used the staff to parry a low sweep before blasting one of the women away with a Force push.

The remaining Echani warrior wasted no time taking over for her dazed sisters, slamming her staff down as Kallian caught it on her blazing saber. Fighting with the Handmaiden had taught her much about Echani fighting techniques, which favored a smooth and delicate approach. They relied on redirecting their opponents' attacks and the great advantage of attacking at long range. The way to beat them, Kallian knew from experience, was to get in close and strike with brutal force.

She did exactly that, ducking under a wild swing and bringing her lightsaber completely across her body with two hands, forcing the Echani's staff away from her body. She continued the onslaught with a series of heavy blows, switching her saber between hands and striking from every direction. Kallian could see the exhaustion in the Echani's eyes as she forced her back, a final spinning uppercut sending her staff flying away. As she looked away in horror, Kallian's fist connected with her jaw, the sound of shattering bone filling the room as the stunned warrior's eyes rolled back in her head.

Kallian barely had time to react as a sharp pain ripped through her side, causing her to spin away as electricity fried her nerves. She turned to see another of the identical women, her staff dripping blood, a victorious smirk on her face. She was flanked by more of her sisters, each holding their weapons in a defensive posture. From what the Force told her, the wound on her lower back failed to hit anything vital, most likely because the woman intended to disable rather than kill. She needed to be more careful, especially given the added risk of trying to do as little damage as possible to her attackers.

She dodged another thrust of an electrified staff only to duck under a whirling blow, her lightsaber angled over her head to ward off a third attack. She pushed up, forcing her opponent away with a vicious swing only to receive another strike from behind, the struts of her prosthetic arm vibrating as the attack knocked her to the floor. She felt a vague sense of pain in her artificial limb as the nerve connectors sent a shock up to her shoulder. Had the blow hit her real arm, she knew the bone would be shattered. She could no longer fight like this; she hoped the Handmaiden would forgive her.

Kallian unleashed torrents of lightning at her opponents, their weapons useless against the dark Force energy. She gritted her teeth as their screams of agony tormented her ears, the low charge in the energy nonlethal for such a short period but also horrifically painful as a consequence. The smell of burning hair and clothing wafted through the air as they fell unconscious, smoke rising from their motionless bodies. She whipped around, sensing danger to the back of her, her saber cutting through flesh like it was an apparition.

Kallian's eyes widened as she looked on in shock, her eyes taking on a similar look to her final opponent who looked disbelievingly at the hands still holding her staff a few feet away. Grimacing, she clenched her hand into a fist, choking the Echani warrior until she blacked out. She knew the pain of a lightsaber wound very well, and to stand there helpless while in such pain, not even able to draw breath as one's life slowly faded into darkness, must have been unbearable. She felt dirty, even though she had harmed innocents, going as far as killing them in the past. It felt so useless to have done this to them, and for what? They only wanted to protect a woman they believed would one day restore the Jedi and bring peace and prosperity to the galaxy once again. Instead some of them were grievously hurt, all for a misunderstanding.

She was too weak and poorly trained to be a hero, she knew now. Someone like Revan, who executed each stroke of her lightsaber like she was dancing to the beat of a waltz, could easily defeat an enemy without injuring them. She, on the other hand, could only maim her opponents with clumsy attacks and a wild technique. She could only ever be a killer, but thankfully, a killer was exactly what was needed now.

She ran across the needle-thin bridge to Atris' quarters, tall, black doors blocking her path. Even as she readied a Force wave to blow through them, they creaked open, revealing a dark room decorated with pyramids made of a jet-black material with qualities of both metal and stone. Each pyramid bore a crimson light, almost like malevolent eyes staring out at her. This Atris she had heard so much about stood in the middle of the high-ceilinged room, clad in pure white robes. Her piercing blue eyes looked out at her from the darkness, her face completely emotionless even though she must have felt her servants' excruciating pain. It was just like a Sith to hide away while others fought in their name, their talk of strength a lie to hide the cowardice that existed in their hearts.

"I have been expecting one of your hateful kind, assassin. I knew the Sith would eventually tire of hiding in the shadows and come to me. I did not foresee that they would be so arrogant as to only send one of their number to kill me," Atris spoke coldly, her voice filled with malice and hate.

Kallian gave the woman a hard look, wondering what she meant about expecting the Sith to come after her. The artifacts around her exuded the dark side, much like the altar on Korriban, and she, herself, felt like a twisted perversion of the Force, a desire to wipe out the darkness existing in every Force user having warped her into a bitter, obsessive monster. She did not even attempt to close her mind, all of her anger and foolish arrogance pouring forth from her like fiery lava. Kallian knew very well how the best of intentions could lead one to the foulest of deeds, and even if Atris did not think of herself as a Sith, the apparent legacy of Darth Traya's manipulations was obvious. If Revan were here, she might have been able to make her see reason, but Kallian was not so skilled. This darkness must be destroyed before it festered and brought ruin to the galaxy.

"If you foresaw my arrival, you should have recruited some better guards," Kallian spat. "Maybe if you had, you might have survived the day".

"As if a lowly Sith assassin could kill a Jedi Master, the last of the great Jedi Order," the scowling woman mocked, igniting a white-bladed lightsaber, the handle curved and plated with shining gold and silver.

"Lie to yourself if you must. The only thing I see before me is an old fool with a stolen title wielding a stolen blade," Kallian sneered, igniting her own bronze saber and adopting the opening stance of Makashi.

"And the only thing I see before me is a pathetic girl consumed by her own pitiful anger, too weak to resist the temptation of the dark side," the Jedi Master said lightly with a condescending chuckle.

"Funny, I could say the same about you!" Kallian yelled, whipping her saber at the woman, only to have it blocked just as quickly. She kept her distance, using the tip of her saber to land glancing blows against Atris's closely held weapon. Growling like an enraged beast, Kallian took her lightsaber in two hands and slashed it toward Atris' midsection, the pale woman jumping back just in time to avoid the attack. Reversing her grip, she aimed an uppercut at the harried woman's neck, the white blade of her saber coming close to grazing its master as she forced her back.

Snarling in anger, Atris took the offensive, several precise strikes raining down on Kallian's defense as the Jedi Master twisted her blade around like a serpent, each attack coming from an unexpected direction. Kallian was forced to retreat, her saber constantly shifting to parry another swift attack, her wrist growing sore as each blow sent another shock up her arm. Atris laughed as she spun on her heel, bringing her saber around in a downward arc as Kallian froze for a critical second. She saber cut through her tunic, grazing her abdomen as she jumped back. Pain shot through her stomach as she staggered away, her saber held out with one hand to discourage pursuit.

She checked her stomach, the slash extending from her lower rib to her navel but thankfully not breaching the muscle wall. She called on the Force to deaden her nerves around the area, the burning pain slowly fading to a distant throb. Apparently Atris believed this to be a good time to taunt her wounded opponent as she called out, "Sadly, my Sith friend, even if you surrender now, I would not be able to spare you. The Sith must be put down like the animals they are. Forgive me".

Kallian grinned, jumping forward and aiming a downward slash at the smirking woman while she still hung in the air as Atris quickly brought her saber up to block it. Taking a hand off the hilt of her saber, she quickly grabbed Atris's wrist and pulled her down. As she collapsed to the ground, their sabers were still locked together like hissing snakes. Kallian ignored the pain in her back as she impacted the stone ground, her knee lashing out to strike Atris in the stomach. Saliva flew out of the Jedi Master 's mouth as it opened wide in a silent yelp even as Kallian rolled backward and kicked her away, the satisfying crack of ribs snapping under the pressure filling her ears like the sweetest music she ever heard.

Atris mewled pathetically as she struggled to scrape herself off the ground. Kallian smirked knowingly, remembering what Lux had told her about his old friend. She had been a glorified librarian, hardly ever leaving the safe confines of the Temple to embark on missions. As a Council member, she was one of the chief hardliners who refused to have any part in the Mandalorian Wars. It had probably been years since she had seen real combat save for the occasional friendly spar. A fight with one's life at stake was hardly the same as one where the crowd clapped politely at the beauty of one's lightsaber technique.

Kallian was quick to take advantage of her opponent's weakness as she surged forth, her lightsaber held low to protect against any opportunistic strike. Atris turned to face her as she charged, her faced twisted into a ghastly personification of rage, her normally pale skin colored a furious purple and red. She stretched forth a claw-like hand, blue lightning erupting from her fingers as Kallian held her saber forward to defend against the killing energy like Sion had done. She was not nearly as successful as Sion had been, the lightning arcing around her screaming blade and surrounding her, electricity roasting her muscles and splintering her bones as she cried out in agony, the power surge frying the circuits of her arm.

For a moment she thought the murderous woman would continue the onslaught until her skin caught fire and her brain cooked in her skull, the agony seeming to go on forever, but just as she felt unconsciousness threatening to overtake her, Atris halted her attack. Kallian quickly collapsed to the ground as the last of the dark energy coursed through her system, leaving muscles twitching like the limbs of a crushed insect. She could not even breathe, the lightning having scorched her lungs and sucked all the air out of her body. Kallian could only lie there with one useless arm and a ravaged body, her one working hand reaching out pathetically to her fallen lightsaber.

She could barely see a white boot kick away the black and silver hilt from the black circles that marred her vision. A mocking voice echoed throughout the shadowy chamber as she struggled to hear the words, her half-closed eyes moving to stare up wearily at the victorious face of Atris. "I could almost feel sympathy for you, the way you screamed so pitifully. Your pain might tug at the heartstrings of a more foolish Jedi whose misplaced mercy would be wasted on an animal like you, but I see those monstrous, yellow eyes of yours and know the only mercy for you is death".

She ignited her lightsaber and held it over Kallian's chest, a cruel smirk of triumph beginning to form on her twisted face as she brought the shining white blade down. The sound of a lightsaber burning through flesh cut through the silence of the room, the soft hum continuing even after the sick noise ceased. The smirk had not left Atris' face as she stared down at the expressionless Kallian, her red hair arrayed around her head like a fiery corona. As Kallian watched through heavy-lidded eyes, the slightest, most imperceptible smile formed on her lips, just as the emitter matrix slowly dropped from Atris' saber, closely followed by her hands, still gripped tightly around the stolen hilt.

The Jedi Master could only stare dumbly at the blackened stumps where her hands used to be as Kallian gingerly hauled herself off the ground, grimacing as she threw away the severed hands that had landed on her chest. She called her hissing saber back to her hand from where it was embedded in the stone floor, the wide, glowing arc it left in the polished rock a testament to the speed with which it had spun through the air at Kallian's command. As Atris gaped at the deformity Kallian had inflicted, the golden-eyed woman growled, "I know the power of the dark side very well. It makes you feel invincible, unstoppable. It's a lie".Her lips moved closer to the wide-eyed woman's face as she purred,"Giving yourself over to the dark side can only ever be a mask to hide your own weakness".

Kallian placed an open palm on Atris' chest as the Jedi Mater looked on in horror, orange bolts of energy surrounding the woman as the tendrils of dark side energy stole the life from her. As she increased the power of the attack, she felt more refreshed, the stolen Force rebuilding her from the inside out. She did not stop until Atris' wavering Force presence vanished from existence, a ragged hole existing where the Jedi Master once was.

She let the lifeless body drop without a second glance, a feeling of glee threatening to overwhelm her as she thought that Zevran had come one step closer to being avenged. Ignoring the now worse than dead Atris, she spotted Lux's old lightsaber, now cleaved in two. Giggling a little to herself, she said out loud, "Sod, Lux is going to kill me for this".

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for taking forever again. I think some of the plot lines should start coming together in the next chapter when some of the characters meet up. When I read through this, I was surprised how angsty some of the characters come off as. I will try to keep that to a minimum in the next chapter. Thanks to all who read and to Gogolu, MrEmperor, Mattias88, Bugsquirt, and Annara Ren for the reviews. MrEmperor, I plan to keep Kallian gray but more like Jolee without the humor I think, not nearly as self-centered and dark as Revan is. Mattias88, a later chapter should deal with what choice Kallian makes about her future. If she does join the Jedi, it certainly will not be the Order Lux and Revan left given that most of those Jedi have been wiped out. Bugsquirt, I thought that Kreia was definitely the best character from the second game, and it was a disappointment how they rushed her story at the end. I will try to avoid that. Annara Ren, I am glad you like the story. **


	13. Beneath the City of Chains

"Why does it always have to be sewers?" Varric grumbled. "There's no imagination in it. There are clichés and then there are _clichés_".

"Oh, don't worry, Varric. The heroes in the stories never find what they're seeking in the sewers, just rats and snakes and such," Merrill said pleasantly, even the dark, the putrid water, and the horrendous stench not dampening her spirits. "Once we get out of here, we'll need to make our way through a crypt, and then a dungeon, and finally a great underground hall with many traps where we find the treasure".

"You forgot one thing, Daisy," the dwarf said fondly.

"What's that Varric? I'm always forgetting things, aren't I?"

"You forgot the monster guarding the treasure," he told her.

"I would rather face the greatest evil in the universe than spend one more moment in this revolting place!" Revan spat, moving gingerly to avoid splattering her robes with fetid wastewater. All her efforts were in vain though as dark stains covered much of the lower part of her cloak and robes.

"Well it was your idea in coming here and all," Hawke reminded the seething woman. "At least nothing's attacked us so far".

Revan glared at him through her expressionless mask but said nothing in return, continuing to step carefully through the labyrinth of sewers that tracked deep under Kirkwall like a maze. They had been walking for hours now, slowly descending through the winding paths, only the light of a few torches and Revan's night vision guiding them through the twisting corridors. As they descended further, the air grew cold and stale, the numerous vermin that infested the higher levels of the sewers dwindling to nothing. She could feel the darkness growing stronger as they descended into the black pit, driving anything living away.

The tunnels of the sewer were rough and unadorned, crudely hewn out of the black rock that the city rose from. There seemed to be little sense to how the tunnels were planned out, winding corridors circling around and abruptly ending into uncovered holes, the thick darkness obscuring how far they descended. Varric had tossed a torch down one of the pits, the bright fire slowly fading into nothingness as it fell forever, no sound ever emerging to indicate it eventually finding the bottom. Noxious air rose from the depths to poison the atmosphere around them, so they could not linger at the pits for very long.

After much grumbling and cursing as they picked their way through the labyrinth, Revan eventually spied a faint light glowing an ominous red and led the rest of the party toward it. What they found was a large, circular room with smooth walls of polished black stone and a tiled floor bearing the mosaic of several wicked looking glyphs. In the center of the room stood a spiked pedestal bearing a red crystal gripped in a sculpted fist. The dark side radiated from the crystal, and as they entered, whispered voices seemed to echo through the chamber, almost as it unseen watchers were observing them.

"The Veil is very thin here," Merrill said quietly. "I can feel power and something sinister, almost like the cave where the spirit was sealed on Sundermount. It feels...really creepy".

"A spirit? I think you mean to use the word demon," Sebastian chastised, the Chantry brother having insisted on accompanying Hawke to eliminate this alleged evil that supposedly lay beneath Kirkwall. "Is one sealed here?"

"No, I don't think so," Hawke answered, studying the pulsing crystal warily. "Is this what we were searching for down here? Seems kind of anticlimactic".

Revan approached the pedestal without a word and extended a hand, blue lightning striking the crystal with ferocious power. As several of her companions gasped, the crystal caught flame and glowed a brilliant blue, the tremendous energy produced spreading from the pedestal and crisscrossing the floor in intricate patterns of blue. The floor of the chamber suddenly groaned and began sinking, dropping them slowly as the clinking of chains and the grinding of gears filled the room.

Sebastian recovered first, eyeing the cloaked woman suspiciously. "I knew there was more to you than meets the eye, but a mage? I suppose you are an apostate then".

"Your Chantry labels everything it fails to understand as magic," Revan sighed, not bothering to look at the suspicious man. "That was a Kyber crystal, a gemstone that is particularly sensitive to the Force. It must serve as the power source for what lies below, and also as a convenient method to prevent those without the Force from stumbling upon it".

"I could shock it with lightning too. It wouldn't keep me out," Hawke insisted. "Seems kind of foolish to have a lock that any mage can open".

"That was no lightning, or at least not the natural phenomenon you are familiar with. That lightning was concentrated dark side energy, one of the most potent weapons a Force user can harness. That crystal was attuned to only allow those who possessed a mastery of the dark side to pass," she explained in a weary tone.

"I distinctly remember a certain person claiming that she battled against this so-called 'dark side of the Force,' and yet now the very same person admits to making use of it?" Fenris stated mockingly. "You cannot fight fire with fire and expect that no one around you will be burned".

"Certain techniques are aligned with the dark and the light, but the categories are next to meaningless. A master may claim that one technique is forbidden one day and the next insist that it is needed. Any technique that has offensive capability is labeled dark simply because it requires strong feelings to fuel it and an intention to attack, but it is no different for swinging a blade. These techniques are simply tools, as it is the disposition of the individual who makes use of them that matters. A good person will use their blade to protect others while an evil person will use it to murder. The Force is no different," she insisted, slightly annoyed at the accusation in the truculent elf's voice.

"Just like blood magic," Merrill piped up, causing Sebastian and Fenris to shake their heads.

"Apparently your Jedi Order disagrees," Fenris sneered. "Why else would they strip those who make use of it of their minds and powers?"

"Because they were afraid," Revan answered in an icy tone, "and fear leads to the dark side".

No one commented further as the platform finally reached its destination, ancient machinery screaming in protest as it came to a rest. With a series of pops, several lights sprung to life, bathing the dark chamber in dim red glow that hurt the eyes to look at. In front of them stood a pair of massive doors decorated with a stunning mural depicting the forces of the Republic on one side and the organic shapes of Sith warships on the other. In the center, the jet-black emblem of the Sith Empire seemed to feed off the weak source of light.

"What is this?" Hawke asked. "I've never seen anything like what's in this painting".

"It depicts a great war that occurred over a millennia ago with the forces of my nation on the left and our enemy on the right," Revan answered glibly. "The symbol in the center is the banner of our enemy, the great seal of the Sith Empire".

"Those look like stars, and I don't know what those other shapes are. Is this supposed to be an attempt at abstract art? I hope the artist wasn't paid in advance," Varric commented, his finger tracing the outline of a Republic cruiser in the throes of destruction.

"They were fighting with weapons you would not understand. All you need have knowledge of is that there was a war and the Sith were utterly defeated. I suspect that this is one of the many holes they crawled into to escape complete destruction," she explained, turning to a dark shape on the ground that looked like a rusted pile of bones.

When she approached, the bones suddenly sprang to life, eliciting several gasps and a high-pitched scream from Merrill as they leveled their weapons at it. Revan held up her hand to stop them, and approached the reactivated droid, its eyes glowing an otherworldly white. "Only the lords of the Sith may pass through these gates," it spoke in the barbaric tongue of the ancient Sith. "Speak your name if you be a master, and enter".

"What is that..._thing_ saying?" Fenris growled, his greatsword still held out in a defensive stance. "It looks like a demon possessed corpse!"

Revan grimaced and reached out her hand toward the group behind her, forcing the knowledge of several languages into their minds. They all yelped in discomfort as Revan's invisible fingers reached deep into the recesses of their memory, implanting foreign thoughts within. "What did you do, demon?" Fenris yelled in a pained voice, barely able to level his weapon at her.

"You could not understand, so I made you understand," she shrugged. "The power of the Force is the power to control the intricacies of the mind. You now have memories of learning languages that you never truly learned. Amazing, is it not?"

She heard the stretching of a bowstring and glanced to see an angry Sebastian pointing an arrow straight at her apparently unprotected neck. She could feel in the Force that he would at least let her explain her actions before he tried to kill her. "Amazing is not the word I would use to describe blood magic, Nox. I have tolerated maleficarum in my presence before if they harmed no one with their powers, but I cannot and will not allow you to use that sinful magic on anyone".

With a wave of her hand, Revan snapped his bow in two and ripped Fenris' sword from his hands for good measure. As Sebastian gaped at the kindling he now held in one hand, Fenris' tattoos ignited with blue fire as he charged at the cloaked woman still holding his sword suspended in the air. By this time, Revan had lost what little patience she had and so blasted the elf back with the Force and pinned him to the wall. When she spoke, her voice was cold and menacing, "I can sympathize enough with how you may feel about having a foreign presence in your mind that I can excuse this reaction. However, if you continue to interfere with my task here, I will strike you down without hesitation! Do _not_ test me".

Temporarily distracted, Revan did not notice as Hawke and Merrill moved to either side of her brandishing their staves while Varric aimed his crossbow at her back. Fire crackling from his staff, Hawke growled, "Release him, Revan, or none of us will ever find out what's behind that door".

Revan glared at him from beneath her mask as Sebastian sputtered, "Revan! You let this demon walk amongst us and said nothing? What were you thinking? You should have alerted the templars immediately!"

"Me and the templars don't have the best of relationships, Sebastian," a furious Hawke reminded him. "I would never turn in a fellow mage to their kind, but neither will I let a rogue blood mage hurt my friends. So I say again, Revan, release Fenris".

"You must be a greater fool than I could ever have believed if you think you can stop me," Revan spat with contempt. She closed her hand into a loose fist as Fenris let out a strangled gasp, gripping his throat with wide, frightened eyes. "I could crush your friend's body into a bloody pulp with a thought, but I have better things to do than teach manners to children".

She opened her hand as Fenris fell to the ground, gulping down air in choked wheezes. Hawke looked like he wanted to rush to the fallen elf's side but he remained still, his weapon still pointed threateningly at the unrepentant Revan. "Smart choice. About what you did to our minds...is it dangerous?"

"For fools as unintelligent as you all are, I suppose knowledge could be a dangerous thing..." she trailed off, receiving several murderous looks in return. "I simply took my own memories and implanted them into your minds. I am sure you agree that it is easier and far faster than teaching. There is no danger in it. For what it is worth, I apologize. If it makes you feel better, I will ask permission in the future if I wish to use similar techniques. Does that set your minds at ease?"

"I can't tell you what a relief it is that you won't turn us into drooling morons without asking nicely. You're so courteous," Varric said dryly.

"Hawke, I told you we should have never trusted her!" Fenris croaked, still holding his throat. "Blood mages care nothing for those they destroy to get what they want!"

"Well what do you suppose we do, Fenris? We're stuck with her as far I can tell until we can get out of here," he reminded the furious elf.

While they were bickering back and forth, Revan turned to the watchful droid and spoke boldly in an ugly tongue, "I am Darth Revan, Dark Lord of the Sith and Empress of the New Sith Empire. You will stand aside and grant me entry".

The droid was silent for a moment before answering, "My records contain no reference to a Darth Revan. You may not enter".

Revan was unperturbed with the droid's answer as she whispered, "I thought as much. It seems that everything must be difficult". She approached the droid and froze it with a burst of Force energy, her hand already reaching into a pouch at her hip for several fine tools.

The others looked on with interest as she opened up a panel on the skeletal machine's chest and began making adjustments, a few sparks and the smell of burnt wiring emerging from the rusted innards of the droid. "What are you doing there?" Sebastian asked suspiciously.

"It refused to let us enter, so I need to reprogram it," she answered with a grunt, her hands buried in a mess of wiring.

"I don't understand. Is that thing...alive? I've never seen anything like it, well...it's kind of like a sylvan, but only if its possessed by a spirit...oh, never mind," Merrill babbled.

"It is alive in a sense. A droid can think and perform the same tasks that a living being can, but it is not born but rather made. It is a machine, much like one of your golems. Among my people, we create them to serve various roles including simple manual labor, diplomacy, or as tools for war," she explained.

"And they don't object to this? They simply go along with it?" Hawke questioned, looking at the droid with something like sympathy before casting a quick glance at Fenris.

"They lack free will in most cases. They are programmed, that is created, with certain directives that prevent disobedience. Some of the more intelligent ones do go rogue on occasion, mostly those built as spies or assassins," she shrugged. "I always loved droids; building and taking them apart always fascinated me. I built a rather spirited one named HK-47 long ago, and he has always served me well, almost like a loyal friend. HK has nothing but contempt for living beings like us, believing that droids are far superior in every way. He delights in murder and mayhem, so it is good that he does not consider leaving my side".

"Yes, there's little more a master fears than having her slave rebel," Fenris sneered.

Before Revan could respond, Varric interrupted, "I couldn't help but notice that you called yourself lord of these 'Sith'. If you're going to tell a story, you should at least try to get it straight with everyone you tell it to".

"I happened to be a tad wild in my youth with a rather unhealthy amount of idealism," Revan said airily. "It led me to strange places, but that is a story for another time".

The droid's eyes glowed brightly as the hum of machinery brought it to life. It regarded those in front of it for a moment before saying respectfully, "Welcome Lord Revan. Would you like me to escort your lordship's slaves to the barracks?"

"No, they will be attending me," Revan spoke wryly, listening to the scoffs behind her.

"Very good, my lord," the droid nodded. "The way is open to you".

A deep rumble filled the cavernous room as the doors opened inwardly, revealing dozens of high columns, each with a base that dwarfed their entire party. They rose up into inky darkness, the ceiling of the massive chamber barely visible in the low red light. Around them, statues of fearsome warriors bearing blades forged from black glass stared down menacingly, their cruel eyes seeming to follow them as they walked past. "I see the Sith penchant for the ostentatious did not end with their defeat," Revan commented, brushing a hand against a relief sculpture depicting a kneeling Jedi begging for his life at the foot of an arrogant Sith Lord.

"It must have taken forever to carve this out of the black stone of Kirkwall," Varric said as he examined a particularly vicious-looking sculpture.

"Kirkwall was the center of the slave trade in the Imperium for a thousand years. I'm sure they had ample manpower and no lack of time," Hawke reminded his friend.

"The Sith have a love for the imposing structures and an intimidating design. They want visitors to feel small and unimportant while marveling at the strength and power of the Dark Lords," Revan spoke bitterly. "It only serves to reveal how small the builders of this place truly were, both of mind and body".

"Might not want to sing a similar tune around dwarves, Revan. If my brother was still around, he would have been in heaven walking through these halls," Varric laughed.

"I guess building in a grandiose way is how a small race compensates for their shortcomings," Hawke observed as his eyes tracked up the spine of a half-ruined column.

"Uncalled for, Hawke, but true...at least for some of us," Varric chastised as they entered a smaller chamber carved in an oval shape from polished onyx. The walls sparkled from the dim light given off by the small ball of flame held in Merrill's hand, the fire soon becoming the only light source as the opening sealed behind them.

"Well it seems we've walked into a trap. How didn't we see this coming?" Hawke quipped, drawing his staff from the sling on his back.

"It wouldn't be exciting if the explorers searching the ancient ruins didn't encounter some traps. Isn't that right, Varric?" Merrill said a little too pleasantly considering the situation.

Before the dwarf could respond, Revan spoke softly, "No, this is not a trap. This room simply requires total darkness". She walked to the center of the room, beckoning with an open hand as a pulsing orb rose from the floor. As she touched it, the room came alive with millions of pinpricks of light, each shimmering as they rotated slowly around the room surrounded by clouds of white dust drifting along like streams of milk. The center glowed a brilliant gold, bathing the gaping onlookers in light.

"Oh...Creators; it's so beautiful, like a sea of diamonds!" Merrill cooed in an awed voice, her hand reaching out to grasp the twinkling gemstones.

Despite his aversion to magic, even Fenris looked appreciative of the beautiful display, his eyes following the flow of the dusty arms as they circled the glowing center. "What is this place?" he asked Revan, aware that she knew how to activate it.

"This is a map...a map of the galaxy. These points of light are the stars you see in the sky from the vantage point of a small speck of dust in a vast sea of light," Revan explained. "I suppose it is inevitable that you will learn the truth now. You saw those statues back there, the ones of a race who were not human, elven, dwarven, or any other race you have ever seen. They are not from this world. The Sith come from the planet Korriban". The galaxy map suddenly zoomed in, settling on a gray planet hanging in a black expanse.

She could feel their confusion as they looked upon the featureless sphere slowly rotating in the dark emptiness of the chamber. Even simple things like the existence of planets were new to them, and the possibility of travel through the vast sea of space still had not occurred to them. "I do not understand...the galaxy, planets, a race of Sith? If they live on a star in the sky...how did they travel here; how could they live in the sky?" Hawke asked.

"This place you inhabit, Kirkwall, the Free Marches, Thedas, is simply a part of your planet, a spherical mass of rock, water, and air that constantly rotates around that star you see in the sky. Because you are close to it, your star looks like a yellow circle, but all the other stars in the sky would look similar if you were closer to them. From another star in the sky, your star would appear as a tiny pinprick of light...such is the vastness of space," Revan explained in the simplest way possible, knowing that half of what she said would go over their heads and the other half not believed. "My people long ago discovered a way to travel from star to star in ships that sail through the darkness of the heavens much like your wooden ones sail through the ocean".

"And I thought I spun tall tales," Varric joked. "I assume you'll now tell us you aren't from here either...or that you're the Maker".

"Indeed...display Coruscant," Revan commanded. The map returned to a wide view of the galaxy before hurtling into the glowing center, revealing a dark world crisscrossed with a grid of orange light. "The capital of the Republic, Coruscant, so called because it glitters from space like a corusca gem. It is covered by an endless city, the lights from the spires and towers forever staving off night. There are others: Tython, the ruined world of Ossus, Dantooine, all Jedi worlds. Display the Republic". The map cycled through each of her requests before highlighting a wide swath of stars in blue.

"A nation made up of stars. Isn't it amazing, Hawke?" Merrill spoke softly, wonder in her eyes. Revan looked at the young elf girl for a long moment, surprised at how easy she accepted this admittedly crazy, at least for the denizens of this world, story. Brushing her mind with the Force, she decided it was not so hard to believe, as this girl wanted it to be true. The fact that there was more in life than a dangerous world filled with people who hated and despised her race comforted her, and the hope that she could one day lead her people to a restored way of life, perhaps far away from this terrible place, awoke within.

"If it's true, it'd be pretty incredible, I admit," Hawke said dubiously. "Is the Republic a human nation? I mean, you're human and all. Are there other races out there?"

"Ooh, I wanted to ask that! Are there elves?" Merrill asked excitedly, waiting expectantly like a puppy eyeing a treat.

Revan chuckled with that knowing laugh, causing the others to bristle in anger. When she spoke, her tone was equally mocking. "Oh? You think humans originated on this backwater world? Think again".

"We are the Maker's second children. This world was created for us after the Fade proved a failure in His eyes. You speak nonsense," Sebastian stated with certainty.

"Such arrogance!" Revan laughed cruelly. "I suppose you think you are the chosen race then? I can see why the elves and dwarves are persecuted then since they lack such auspicious beginnings as children of an all-powerful deity".

"Elves and Dwarves are children of the Maker just as we are, they simply lack..." Sebastian began before Revan cut him off.

"Faith? What a reason to look down on someone...because they do not believe something you cannot prove nor could anyone," she scoffed. "Let me tell you a story about these 'children of the Maker'. Display Tatooine".

A brown and tan world with a blue corona appeared at her command as all eyes turned to it. "The human homeworld is unknown, lost to time as we spread out and colonized new worlds, but there are legends I have come across. A powerful race called the Rakata once ruled the galaxy tens of millennia ago, their ships powered by the dark side of the Force. They had such a mastery of the dark side that no race could oppose them, their technology far beyond that of even the most advanced races, allowing them to build an infinite fleet of ships to spread across their Infinite Empire," Revan recalled. "One planet was the birthplace of a race more advanced than most, and instead of surrendering in the face of the mighty Rakata, they fought for their freedom. They were, of course, utterly defeated, and the Rakata failed to look kindly on their defiance".

She was silent for a moment, letting her companions realize inevitable conclusion of the tale. "This planet, Tatooine, is a desert wasteland with a surface twin suns bake endlessly. The punishment the Rakata devised for the intrepid race that dared to stand against them was to turn their planet into this," she gestured to the hologram. "They scorched the surface so rock and dirt melted into glass and split the sun so nothing would again grow on a once lush world...the survivors they took as slaves. Like most who foolishly believe they can command the Force, the Rakata were undone by their faith in the dark side. They fell to war and lost their connection to the Force. The slaves they kept on countless worlds rebelled and took their masters' technology for themselves. Among them were slaves from Coruscant, survivors of the murder of their planet...humans".

Revan let the point sink in before beginning again, "You think you are somehow special, oh slave of the Chantry, that your race is exalted above all others by some absentee god? You are the descendent of a slave race, a descendant of a race whose world was bathed in fire so long ago that the knowledge has been lost. A pitiful, defeated race indeed".

Fenris was unimpressed by her speech, his eyes alive with disdain. "You are quite fond of pointing out the flaws in others with hat holier-than-thou attitude...perhaps you should listen to the ego-driven drivel you spout off, and maybe then you would realize how self-absorbed you sound. I suppose someone who already considers herself a god has no use for the deities of us lesser mortals".

Revan bristled, but before she could retort, Sebastian interrupted, "You misjudge me along with all those who believe in the Maker. I pity you, Revan, so blinded by hatred that everything beautiful, good, and worthy is twisted in your eyes. If you are so sure that you are right, and I am truly a mindless slave of an evil lie, why not consider my point of view instead of denying everything you do not agree with? Are you afraid you might be wrong? Maybe you are right, and I am arrogant and closed minded, but from what I have seen, you are no better".

"As much as I enjoy all this patronizing talk, let's forget the childish squabbling for now. How did we get here if this isn't where humans are from?" Hawke asked in an effort to make peace.

"If you had been slaves of the Rakata, surely your society would have developed past the point it has, so that is not a possibility. This planet is far from any human controlled world, so colonization would seem to be out, but...I can really think of no other way. Perhaps your descendents were colonists onboard the sleeper ships that Corellia launched before the founding of the Republic. It would have taken thousands of years to travel here without a hyperdrive, and perhaps your knowledge of technology was lost a few lifetimes after arrival," she shrugged, giving the best explanation she could all the while glaring at both Fenris and Sebastian.

"What a sad story. It's almost like...what happened with Arlathan. We lost our homeland too. Maybe if the humans had remembered, they would not have attacked us," Merrill mused quietly, earning a glare from Revan.

"Stop dwelling on things you cannot change," she growled. "You have lost part of your history and culture, so what? Make new history; rebuild your culture! If the humans of this world persecute you, make it so they cannot. Fight them and build a new nation, one stronger than that of the past".

"If it were that easy. Words and ideals are well and good, but putting those words into action is something else entirely," Varric said with a knowing smirk.

"If freedom was easy to obtain, it would not be worth having," the masked woman said sagely, a quick gesture of her hand opening a hidden door on the opposite side of the room.

The others followed her through the opening to a labyrinth of passageways, the low ceilings of the tunnels giving the entire area a claustrophobic feel. Revan seemed to have no trouble navigating the twisting halls, leading the party with quiet confidence. Eventually, the reached an open area covered by a painted dome. Depicting Marka Ragnos witnessing the duel of his apprentices with leadership of the Sith at stake, the painting focused on a rather obscure figure of a scowling man hidden in the background, red eyes filled with jealousy and contempt. So stood the man who would become Emperor, almost hidden behind the crowd of Sith witnessing the duel and yet the main subject of the painting. It surprised Revan how the event that led to the Great Hyperspace War was depicted in the monumental artwork, unglamorous and not idealized, as usually the Sith tended toward the exaggerated and grandiose when depicting themselves. Or maybe that was the point of the painting, to mock the hallowed place the revered Dark Lords of the Golden Age held in Sith lore despite their spectacular failure. Only the Sith Emperor could see their folly, but he would go unheeded.

In the center of the chamber stood a giant figure draped in a blood-red cape over massive golden armor, bright flames reflected in its black visor. A huge claymore was held in its hand, the black Mandalorian iron casting a long shadow over the tiled floor. "I have been expecting you, Revan," the figure spoke in a familiar voice, heavily accented and synthesized by the electronics beneath that cruel mask. "Our fight is not yet over".

Revan did not answer the apparition of Mandalore the Ultimate, instead looking to the frightened girl next to her, quivering lips repeating two names like she was begging them for forgiveness. "Lyna, Tamlen, please..." she whispered, wide green eyes tearful.

The others were equally transfixed by the visions that appeared before them, whether simply haunted by specters of the past or confronted by long-dead loved ones Revan knew not. "Hey, anyone else see Bartrand in front of us, or am I going crazy?" Varric asked, one hand on his crossbow.

"Definitely going crazy, but don't worry, we seem to all be in the same boat here," Hawke remarked in a strangled voice, narrowed eyes looking out to some unknown shade of the past.

"Danarius," Fenris growled. "What foul magic is this...and who is that red-haired woman? I know her, and yet I don't".

"Pay no attention to these specters; they are just tricks of the mind. Places like this that are strong in the dark side often produce such visions, depicting memories from your past or events that have not yet come to pass," Revan spoke in an almost bored fashion, but disinterest quickly transformed into tension as her Force sense cut through the dark side fog obscuring her sight.

A red bar of light suddenly appeared in Revan's hand, surprising her companions, but even more shocking were the monsters that appeared before them as she dispelled the illusions created by the dark side. "Fierfek!" she swore. "Terentateks. I should have known that I would never be rid of these beasts!"

"Well here are your monsters, Daisy. Let's hope the heroes are equal to the task," Varric joked as he looked up at the twin towering masses of fangs and spikes.

"Stay back!" Revan snarled. "These are opponents you cannot hope to stand against!"

With a low rumble deep in the beast's throat, one of the hulking monsters charged, battering its head against Revan's lightsaber as it forced her back. The energy blade barely scratched the creature's cortosis armored hide, but Revan could not move the blade for fear of the Force-dead beast crushing her within its wide maw. Its hungry yellow eyes stared at her greedily, strings of saliva slowly pooling on the dusty floor from its long, black fangs.

She chanced a quick glance at the others now menaced by the other terentatek, seeing the surly elf take a swing at the beast with his huge greatsword only to have the dark metal fracture into a spider web of cracks. The monster turned to the elf then, annoyed at the blow, but Hawke drew its attention with a blast of fire that turned the air around them dry as a desert. Still the beast was unaffected, the flames not even scorching the tough, scaled skin. "Just stay away from it!" she shouted, straining to hold back her own opponent. "These things were made to resist all forms of energy attack, and physical blows will be even more useless!"

Despite her command, Hawke and Merrill continued to shower the Force-dead creature with fire and lightning, eventually irritating it enough that it attempted to shield its face with oversized claws. The Sith had designed these abominations to be virtually indestructible, but the greater part of their usefulness lay in their ability to intimidate. Without the ability to bring the Force to bear against an enemy, most Jedi were well out of their element and necessarily more prone to mistakes. Revan did not make mistakes, at least when it came to destroying an enemy.

Separating one side of her saberstaff from the other, she plunged the screaming blade into the terentatek's eye socket, boiling liquid leaking from the wound like repulsive tears. The creature roared and battered her into a wall, pinning her there as it tried desperately to remove the offending object from its skull. Her armor held under the beast's tremendous weight, but still the creature refused to die, its head thrashing about as bellows emerged from its wide mouth. She grimaced as the saber keeping its snapping jaws from biting her in two was pressed into her armor, the paint hissing as it faded away while the metal squealed in protest.

She deactivated the saber in her off hand and reignited it as she plunged it through the monster's remaining eye, shifting the blade to and fro like she was stirring some soup, all the while hoping she would do enough damage to its miniscule brain to finally kill it. With that thought, the creature's heavy body slumped over, still twitching occasionally as nerves sent messages to a nonexistent brain. As she turned to see how the others were faring, she saw that they had apparently had the same idea as to how to deal with these beasts, the stained wood of a crossbow quarrel sticking a few inches out of the creature's ruined eye. Black, tarlike blood leaked from that wound while the other eye socket was charred from the streams of fire arcing from Hawke's staff.

Even blind, the beast was just as dangerous, sensing its attackers through their presence in the Force. It swiped at Merrill with powerful claws, sundering her staff into splinters as bladelike talons raked across her chest. She fell as red dye began to stain the green of her simple garment, Hawke and Varric firing at the terentatek to distract it from the injured girl. Revan added her own strength to the mix, unleashing great currents of lightning that struck the monster with so much force that its head snapped back, charred scales exploding from its seared armor. Even with its Force immunity, the dark side energy still left a smoldering, black scar where it impacted, drawing the attention of the creature.

It opened its fanged mouth to roar at the cause of its wound only to swallow a spinning lightsaber that hissed and screeched as it cut through wet, soft flesh. The proud beast made one last futile attempt to charge at Revan only to fall before it had taken a few steps, the inside of its body shredded and burned. Blood poured from its mouth as it choked and spat, pathetically trying to draw breath from lungs now reduced to seared pulp. In a testament to its resilience, it lingered for a few moments more before finally joining its companion in death.

She reached forth and pulled her lightsaber from its body, wincing in disgust as she wiped gore from the silver hilt, the black mess refusing to be cleaned. Hawke was more concerned with Merrill who he now had sitting up, healing energy surrounding the bloody cuts in her chest. The girl still retained color in her cheeks, lacking the pale countenance indicative of extensive blood loss, and her Force presence was strong and unwavering. She was in no danger as far as Revan could tell.

"Don't do that again, Merrill. Going to give me a heart attack," Hawke chided, wrapping bandages around her naked torso after the wounds closed. "I do not want to be the one to tell Marethari that I got you killed on some foolhardy adventure".

"The Keeper can be scary at times, I admit," Merrill smiled weakly, "but you don't have to worry, Hawke. I'm not going to die so soon...well at least I'll try not to. Can never be sure about these things, you know!"

"Daisy, don't even joke about that. The last thing I want to do is tell that particular story, not about a sweet thing like you," Varric said as he ruffled the girl's braided hair.

It was rather disgusting how the two fussed over the elf girl, treating her as if she were a small child constantly in trouble, and even more so how she went along with it. This Merrill was not nearly as naïve as she let on. It was almost as if she knew how the others saw her and what they expected from her, and she filled that role. Perhaps it was not surprising given how afraid she was that they would abandon her, therefore losing the only friends she had in the world. She feared more than anything else being alone, and therefore was wary of showing her true nature to these people who regarded her as innocent and airheaded.

"You wield strange weapons, Revan. There were rumors that the demon fought with swords of fire, but seeing it firsthand...they are quite striking," Sebastian remarked, interrupting her thoughts.

"All Force users use lightsabers. When you declare yourself a knight, I suppose it helps to look the part," she shrugged, reconnecting one hilt to the other. "These creatures were made to be resistant to them to make it easier to kill the Jedi. I thought they had been eliminated for good, but apparently a few still remain in the lairs of the ancient Sith".

"Any chance we encounter any more of them...or something worse," Fenris asked pointedly, his broken sword still tightly gripped in one hand.

"Who can say? They cannot be sensed in the Force, so I am in the dark just as you are about what awaits us," she answered coolly. "We would be wise not to remain here any longer. Terentatek blood vaporizes into poisonous fume soon after their death".

They finally came to the end of the maze at a small, unassuming chamber, bare except for a rough-hewn pedestal with a black pyramid with faint red markings perched on top. The dark side was so strong there that even Hawke and the others could feel it, a deep cold penetrating them like they were drowning in icy water. With a swish of her cloak, Revan approached the pyramid and placed a hand over it, red light bursting forth as the three sides folded away. For a moment there was only static and a series of indecipherable images, but gradually the form of a miniature body was revealed, clad in opulent armor and dark robes. The image was of a Sith, the red face and strange tendrils leaving no doubt to the species, but as quickly as the hologram appeared, it came alive with wicked, sulfurous eyes opening to observe the companions.

"I see humans and the slave race before me...tell me, why have you sought out my holocron? Seek you power or perhaps wisdom? No...what you require is far simpler than that...merely answers," the Sith spoke to himself, long fingers like spiders legs stroking his chin in an imitation of the living.

"It is true that I have questions, and you will provide the answers," Revan spoke coldly, surprising everyone in that she did not immediately destroy the strange object.

"Oh will I, young one? Does this confidence stem from power or merely unchecked arrogance? It is you who needs information from me, I think, so how would such a situation affect our relative positions with regard to each other? If I may be so bold, I would suggest that you are the dependent one in this particular relationship," the hologram smirked.

Revan bristled but did not rise to the condescending jibe, instead continuing with her inquiry. "You were one of the Sith Lords who escaped destruction at the hands of the Republic, I believe. Your comrade," she said with just a hint of irony, "is proving a rather annoying irritant of mine. If you please, I would like to know more about the nature of his immortality...more specifically, how he can be destroyed".

The hologram chuckled cruelly, giving the masked woman before him an appraising look. "You speak of the self-proclaimed 'Emperor,' that betrayer and usurper who dared to claim the mantle he had no right to. Truly we were fooled, too blinded by our hated for the Jedi to see the snake in our midst, so drunk we were with visions of glory and victory. How many years have passed since then and yet we remain in exile, decaying flesh and bone far from the ancient tombs of our forefathers. I assume the fool has made no progress?"

"Other empires of the Sith have risen and fallen since the days of the Golden Age of the Sith, but the emperor still bides his time hidden away in the far places of the galaxy," Revan admitted.

"As befits a coward and a knave," the Sith spat in anger. "But tell me girl, why should I harm the cause of my fellow Sith and reveal to you the secrets of the usurper's power? At least in my restless slumber, I can take solace when Coruscant is reduced to blackened slag and the mindless pawns of the Jedi brought low".

"You will tell me because you are True Sith, not a fallen Jedi tainted by knowledge of the light and plagued with doubts over petty morality," Revan insisted, hoping to appeal to he Sith's ego, even if he was only a programmed personality in the holocron. "What does a Sith thirst for if not vengeance against their enemies. Let me be your instrument, and I will show the usurper the true wrath of the Sith!"

"So you offer to take up my cause? How can one so lacking in wisdom hope to confront even the weakest of the Sith, hmm?" he smirked, goading her with his mocking tone. "Indulge me if you will, girl, and answer this riddle. How can life exist without the Force?"

"It is a trick question," Revan answered with certainty. "The Force is life and all life gives birth to the Force".

"Indeed," the Sith nodded, his smirk growing ever wider. "Without the Force, there can be no life, but without life, there can be no death. You know of these wounds in the Force do you not? They can be harnessed and bestow terrible power on those who refuse to live as a slave to the whims of the dark side, and yet this power is imperfect, dangerous, and ultimately, useless. What if it could be perfected? What if one could become the perfect embodiment of the death of the Force? Without the Force as a hindrance, death will be long forgotten".

Revan was floored at the Sith's words, anger and disbelief rising in her mind as she sputtered in fury, "It cannot be that simple!"

"The simplest ideas are often those we understand the least," the grinning Sith lectured. "We labored for centuries on this accursed world, laboring to understand the most obvious and yet illusory of truths. Success proved to be our undoing, transforming a worthless puppet into Dark Lord".

"And how am I supposed to kill something outside the Force entirely," Revan interrogated, still not completely convinced of the Sith's truthfulness.

"A rhetorical question: how can you kill something that is not living? The answer, of course, is that you cannot. Only the living experience death, and life is the Force," he offered, waiting patiently for the inevitable conclusion.

"Heal the wound in the Force, and he will be vulnerable...but that is impossible," she whispered in response.

"Only those with closed-off minds speak of the impossible," he rebuked her. "With that level of resolve, perhaps you should return to your temple and leave this task for one without your weakness, my little Sorcha".

Revan felt a cold chill spread through her body at the mention of that name, a name that this artificial personality could not know unless this was not a holocron. As the thought emerged in her mind, the Sith had already turned his attention to the others in the party. "You, slave girl, you lament the loss of your history and culture, sitting in front of a shattered mirror endlessly, hoping that by some miracle a broken artifact from another time can restore what has been lost. What do you expect to accomplish?"

Merrill bristled at the condescending observation, her large eyes filled with fury from meeting one of the destroyers of Arlathan. "Revan said the Sith were destroyed by her Republic. Are you really any different from me, hiding away and searching for a way to restore your lost glory? I will not fail. I _will_ save my people!" she spoke in a raised voice.

"You misunderstand me, girl," he purred, his yellow eyes flashing. "There are few alive that still remember the time before your enslavement. You stand before one yourself, and yet you still do not realize your fortune. Perhaps I could relate some of what I know...would that not make your task far easier, hmm?"

"You...you would do that for me?" Merrill asked hesitantly, taking an involuntary step forward toward the projection, her wide eyes not seeing the hunger in the yellow orbs of the ancient Sith Lord.

"No! Do not go near it!" Revan hissed, wrenching the elf back by her scarf and activating one side of her saberstaff. "Your assistance has been appreciated, but you have worn out your welcome".

The flickering image of the Sith Lord chuckled menacingly before answering, "No, I think not. I think...that I tire of this place while a weakened Republic and a shattered Jedi Order are ripe for the picking".

Revan tried to plunge her saber through the vibrating artifact but the cold touch of the dark side ripped through her mental shield and tightened its merciless fingers around her mind. She could only gasp as the world faded into nothingness.

* * *

Sorcha sighed as she walked through the bright halls of the Jedi Temple, glaring at a classroom full of younglings as she passed. They waved their training sabers around like they were swatting flies, no sense of grace or technique even beginning to penetrate their wild flailing. She bristled as their instructor smiled approvingly at their foolishness, complimenting each on how much they had improved. These stupid masters indulged these talentless rejects rather than actually trying to make them into warriors worthy of the name Jedi.

Earlier she had soundly defeated her training partner, an older boy named Lux she came to instantly dislike, managing to disarm him by smashing her training saber on his sword hand. Of course, that would not be a killing blow in real combat, so she proceeded to hit him with the low-powered blade in the neck for good measure. The Master observing them had lectured her incessantly after that, reprimanding her for not stopping after her opponent was defeated. She could not stop the tears from flowing as she yelled back, not understanding why she was the one being punished for winning and only doing what any Jedi would have done when faced with a dangerous enemy. She knew she was right, but her words had been dismissed as the product of a childish tantrum, and she was ordered back to her room. All the while Lux stood silently glaring at her, a hidden smirk gracing his lips. She wished she could have hit him again, masters or no masters.

As she brooded on the injustice of the whole situation, she bumped into another student and quickly opened her mouth to tell the fool off. The vindictive words died on her lips as she laid eyes on a tall boy with tousled brown hair bearing a wide smile. "I heard you got into trouble again, Sorcha. The younglings were talking about how Master Sunrider was complaining about that 'impossible girl' to the other masters. At least you didn't drag me into it this time".

"The masters are idiots, Alek. I'm so much better than everyone here, but all they do is lecture me. Be patient, Sorcha, don't attack in anger, Sorcha," she complained in a bratty tone. "It's not my fault half the other trainees are weak and useless. Why should I have to hold back? And then that Lux gets praised for being such a suck-up. I thought the masters could use the Force to tell what other people are thinking? Maybe they don't deserve to be masters. All the strong ones died in the war, and they left behind these idiots".

"Perhaps your poor attitude and contempt for your peers is what disturbs your teachers, young one," a familiar voice spoke and Sorcha cringed, slowly turning to the frowning face of Master Vrook Lamar.

"I'm sorry, Master Vrook...I didn't think..."

"That anyone was listening?" he finished for her, giving the girl a stern look.

"I'm sorry. I was just...angry about what happened. I won the match. Master Sunrider should have praised me, not fawned over poor Lux Vulnus. He wasn't even burned that badly!" she insisted, knowing that Master Vrook would have little sympathy for her.

"Your anger is what concerns us, young one...along with that ego you have developed. A Jedi does not seek accolades or recognition for their deeds. Serving others is the only reward a Jedi should ever need," he reminded her, disappointment in every word. "You will make amends to young Lux and Master Sunrider, and you will also clean the halls in the East Wing for the next week".

"But that's not fair!" both Sorcha and Alek exclaimed.

"You need to learn both discipline and the knowledge that actions have consequences. I will hear no more of your excuses. A Jedi accepts their duty and does what is required of them," he stated firmly before adding as an afterthought. "And you Alek will help her clean the East Wing".

Alek sputtered in protest as Sorcha cried in disbelief, "Alek didn't even do anything! Why is he getting punished too?"

"I am aware that the two of you are quite the double act. I have heard many reports of you two bullying students, disrespecting your instructors, and leaving the temple unsupervised, so from now on, you will share the other's punishment. Perhaps that will motivate you both to think more about your actions".

Both Sorcha and Alek were left speechless as the master walked away, Sorcha continuing to glare after him as he disappeared around a bend. "Someday I'll get that old bastard back," Sorcha spoke under her breath, causing Alek to gasp and Revan to blush at her use of such impolite language. "Well he is!"

"Better not let the other masters hear you say it though or we'll be in even more trouble. They'll have us scrubbing down the whole temple!" he said gravely and Sorcha looked away.

"Sorry...if I hadn't said anything, he wouldn't have punished you. You must hate me," she murmured sadly.

Alek laughed at her, his mouth set in a wide smile as he said playfully, "Well I can't say that I'm not mad at you for this, but at least we'll be together. I'm sure we can make it fun...somehow".

Sorcha smiled back at him as she spoke excitedly, "You know what? Let's get out of here! We can go explore the city for a while before curfew. That'll show the old grouch!"

"Then we'll just get into more trouble," Alek groaned, but seeing Sorcha's disappointed face, he immediately relented. "As long as we don't go too far, I guess. Remember what happened when we snuck into the Senate Chamber last time?"

"Force, Alek," she rolled her eyes, "no one would have missed the Senator from Kuat anyway. Her relatives might have even thanked us".

"I'm just saying..." he sighed, almost falling on his face as Sorcha grabbed his arm and pulled.

It was dark when the pair returned, the lights of thousands of speeders replacing the stars they had never seen on the city planet. For all the wars the Jedi had fought throughout their history and the numerous enemies they had cultivated, security was surprisingly lax. Perhaps the lack of caution was due to the Jedi relying more on feeling hostile intent through the Force than on conventional measures against intruders. Sorcha and Alek made their way through an air duct that deposited them near the student dorms, the need for quiet not enough to prevent them from giggling through their hands, the stifled laughter echoing through the columned halls of the temple. Unfortunately for the mischievous duo, their absence had not gone unnoticed.

"Well my little Sorcha, it seems Master Vrook's words fell on deaf ears," a bemused voice spoke from behind her, causing Revan to jump and quickly turn. A beautiful woman in pale gray robes stood there with arms crossed over her chest, her expression mixed between disapproval and affection.

"Master Kae!" Sorcha sputtered, her mind torn between denying everything and making up an excuse. She decided on feigning ignorance. "What do you mean? I would never disobey Master Vrook".

As Sorcha looked into those kind eyes, she though she saw a flash of anger appear just for a second, the master's beautiful face contorting into something ugly and wicked, but it passed so quickly that the young girl thought she had imagined it. "Lying is unbecoming of a Jedi, Sorcha. Are you such a coward that you would dissemble and use deceit to avoid facing the consequences of your actions?"

Sorcha blushed and could not bring herself to look at the woman before her. She heard a quiet squeak escape her lips, forming a single word: "No".

"Then why are you hiding like a coward?" Arren Kae questioned sharply as the blushing girl recoiled.

"I...I'm sorry. I didn't think you'd be m...mad. I don't...I don't want to disappoint you," Sorcha admitted.

"Speak properly! If I wanted to be spoken to by a half-witted gutter rat, I would think to try the Undercity, not these hallowed halls and by a trainee no less!" Master Kae snapped, her mouth curling into a sneer.

Sorcha gaped at the woman who had been like a mother to her, the loathing and cruelty in her voice evident even to a child's ears. Master Kae could be stern, but more often she laughed off the precocious trainee's high jinks and dismissed any trouble she got in as the silly games children were wont to play. Sorcha had never seen her like this, so angry and mean, and wondered if perhaps she had gone too far this time. "I disobeyed Master Vrook and left the temple. I was being immature and my conduct shames me. I will never do something so childish ever again, I swear," she resolved, hoping that an admission of guilt and a semi-sincere promise would satisfy her.

Instead, her words just seemed to make Arren Kae angrier. Her eyes grew darker and breath left her mouth like the growl of an enraged animal as her hand lashed out to grasp Sorcha's thin wrist. "Perhaps the masters on the Council were right about you. You scarcely deserve the honor of being a Jedi Knight. There is no place among us for the craven".

Sorcha tried to pull away from Master Kae but her hand was like a vice clamped around her aching wrist. Terror began to rise in her as she turned to Alek for support, only to find a huge man with pale, gray skin and dark, cruel eyes staring down at her with contempt. A metal plate wrapping around to cover his ears hid his mouth, and when he spoke, the sound he produced was inhuman, sounding more like a droid than anything living. "Ever the disappointment, Revan. Always running from the truth, never standing firm in the face of your fears. Behind that mask you wear is nothing but weakness and the mind of a scared, little girl reliant on others for protection," he stated in a cold, pitiless voice.

Sorcha had never seen this monstrous man before, but she felt strangely familiar with him. This strange feeling was quickly forgotten as the icy touch of fear threatened to overtake her, dark thoughts clawing at her mind and twisting what she perceived. "Master Kae, please...please help me!" she begged, trying futilely to wrench the woman's hand from her numb arm. This could only be a nightmare, she thought, a terror that would quickly be dispelled once she awakened, but the Force told her that what was happening was all too real.

Arren Kae cackled at her pleas, once warm eyes now colored a devilish yellow. "Oh my foolish child, now you ask for help? I thought Revan had no need of anyone; why else would she abandon her comrades and embark on a lonely journey to destroy the Sith? Perhaps you should have heeded the lessons of your masters and controlled the arrogance within you. Now that baseless pride of yours will prove your undoing".

"I don't know who Revan is!" Sorcha insisted, tears obscuring her vision. "Master Kae, please...please don't..."

The towering man behind her activated a red-bladed lightsaber and Sorcha gasped, redoubling her efforts to break free from this false master's grip. The gray-robed woman refused to let go, the skin around her hand now shrunken and gray so that it looked skeletal. As Sorcha looked into her face, she saw nothing of the woman she knew, only a demonic visage with sunken, yellow eyes ringed with black, festering cracks in her skin bubbling with frothy blood as her lipless mouth curled into a yellow-toothed grin. She could not look at that face, and so shut her eyes tight, hoping and begging that this was only a terrible dream, one she would wake up from and laugh about with Alek later on.

As she sobbed, a harsh voice cut through her racing thoughts, filled with disapproval. "I once told you that I had nothing more to teach you, but it seems my lessons have been forgotten or at least misplaced for the moment".

She turned to the source of the voice, laying eyes on an old woman, regal and noble in bearing, her thin mouth looking as if a smile never graced it. A brown hood hid her eyes, but Sorcha could feel her gaze on her, like that of a mother finding her child in the midst of some mischief. "Well are you going to stand there staring dumbly, or are you going to explain yourself, Revan?" she asked in an annoyed fashion.

"Why are you all calling me that? It's not my name!" she insisted, a small spark of the fire that had been snuffed out by terror beginning to burn again.

"Stop hiding, Revan. All the time I have known you, you avoided unpleasant truths, blamed others for your own failures, and been willfully blind to the faults others could plainly see within you. You are no longer a child," the old woman spoke. "Stop acting like one".

Sorcha opened her mouth to deny the name again, but a strong voice overwhelmed her own, speaking words in her own voice but older and filled with sadness. A dark figure placed a hand on her shoulder, warding away the two fiends that hissed at her presence. When she looked into the dark woman's face, she first saw a sorrowful smile and then an expression of regret etched in her pale, scarred face, a face she knew very well. When she spoke, her words were soft and bittersweet, like someone saying goodbye to a friend for the final time. "You are right as always, Kreia. In the end, I could not become the Jedi you wished me to be. I could not cope with such a staggering failure, so I denied it, locked it deep within me where it festered, like a cancer of my spirit".

"The lies we tell ourselves are far more harmful than the lies we tell others. They weigh us down like heavy chains, and inevitably comes the day when we can no longer drag such a burden," this Kreia nodded sagely, looking past Sorcha to the dark figure. "Have you decided to free yourself now after years of denial?"

"I buried my past when I took up Revan's mask for the second time. There was too much pain there...more than I could bear. I sought to do away with what I once was, calling it a lie, a meaningless existence as the slave of those far weaker than I, but in reality, I was too weak to confront it, too fearful to know all I had lost, too cowardly to own all I had done," the dark figure admitted, squeezing Sorcha's shoulder as she did so. Sorcha looked up at her and was surprised when the dark figure addressed her. "I abandoned you, and I was wrong to. You were the best part of me, the part of me that loved, had values and ideals, and threw everything away to fight in a hopeless crusade. Forgive me".

Sorcha frowned at the scarred woman, but took her hand when she offered it, grasping it tightly. They both looked to Kreia then, the old woman wearing a bemused smile as she said affectionately, "And what, pray tell, will you do now, my little fool of an apprentice?"

Revan looked at her, bearing a brash grin that made her look much younger. She scoffed at the question, saying airily without any trace of her typical formality, "What I've always done, master: exactly what I want to do".

* * *

Revan opened her eyes, focusing on the snarling image of the Sith Lord flickering before her, his wicked eyes filled with fury and also a great deal of fear. "You filthy Jedi bitch! I will..." he began, but his tirade was quickly cut off by the thrum of a lightsaber. The top of the holocron spun in the air, black lightning arcing between it and the base as the red light of her saber cast the Sith's end in a fiery glow. She shielded her face as dark power exploded from the ruined artifact, a wave of terror and rage briefly sounding in the maelstrom of the Force.

The others around her stirred from their fitful slumber, the elven girl swaying and falling in a heap as Revan looked on in amusement. Hawke was the first to speak after the ordeal, "Maker, I feel like I got into another drinking contest with Isabella. I don't think the ground should be spinning like that".

"Hey, look on the bright side...we're alive, I think," Varric quipped as he shook his head vigorously.

"This was your doing, wasn't it?" Fenris growled, sending an icy glare toward an unconcerned Revan.

"It felt like I was being possessed," a shivering Merrill spoke fearfully. "I heard his voice in my head...calling to me and showing me...terrible things".

"I told you that I intended to find the source of evil in this place an destroy it, didn't I?" Revan sighed, hiding her discomfort with practiced skill. "What remained of the Sith Lord has been destroyed. You needn't trouble yourselves about it any further".

"If you planned to destroy it, why not do so immediately rather than put us all at risk?" Fenris snapped, clearly shaken by what he had seen. "I suppose like any mage, you found the allure of forbidden knowledge too strong to resist".

"I failed to destroy the artifact immediately because I did not think it posed any danger. I believed, wrongly it seems, that it was merely a holocron, a repository of knowledge with no spark of life within it," she explained patiently. "The Sith Lord bound his spirit to the holocron and sustained himself through the dark side for centuries, waiting for a chance to gain his freedom. I was taken unawares, I admit, due to my preoccupation with any information he might have held regarding my enemy, and he gained a small foothold in my mind. He proved to weak to control me fortunately, and any connection remaining to this world he might have had has been severed".

"How can we be sure though?" Sebastian questioned, his face pale. "I felt a foreign presence in my mind, and the demon evoked terrible memories. It might still be with us, lying dormant in our minds".

"He had little interest in the lot of you anyway. He desired a host with a strong connection to the Force. When I destroyed the artifact, I snuffed out what was left of his pathetic life. Trust me," she assured them, inwardly sighing but forgiving their justifiable paranoia.

"Well if I can accept that people flit around in little ships between the stars, I suppose I can give you the benefit of the doubt. I hope you realize how hard that is for me, so be grateful," Varric said dryly.

"How magnanimous of you, dwarf," Hawke observed.

"Don't be jealous of my sparkling personality, Hawke. Dwarves are just naturally lovable," he snarked in response.

"It's a shame though...that we could not uncover any knowledge about Arlathan," Merrill spoke morosely. "He knew of our ancient kingdom, even if he was one of those who destroyed it. I might never encounter such a chance again".

"Don't be a fool," Revan chastised. "The Sith are not in the habit of preserving the culture of those they destroy and enslave. Even if he wanted to tell you anything, he would know nothing worthwhile to you. Don't rely on others to carve a path forward for you, move forward on your own. If others hate and shun you for it, forget them and show the fools how wrong they are".

"I am sure encouraging the blood mage is of importance to you, Revan, but I think another matter is of greater import at the moment," Sebastian interrupted, casting a distrustful glance at the wide-eyed elf. "You are a murderer wanted by the Chantry, never mind where that power you wield comes from. It is my duty to report your presence to the Grand Cleric and assist with whatever efforts are made to subdue you. This is an obligation I cannot foreswear".

"So in other words, you are saying that your duty requires you to go tattle to your precious Chantry about me. You say this as an unarmed man, knowing that it would be a trifling task for me to kill you. I haven't the patience to try to persuade you otherwise...and death _is_ a permanent solution to such a problem".

"Those who bask in the Maker's light need not fear evil. If I must die to serve His cause, then I am prepared," Sebastian declared without fear.

Hawke and the others looked uneasy as the standoff continued until the masked woman finally broke the long silence. "Then do as you will, I suppose," she grumbled with a halfhearted shrug. "If you wish to send your comrades to their deaths, then by all means, I will oblige. It matters little anyway...soon I will be off this forsaken rock and away from this nightmare".

"Sebastian, for the love of the Maker and His crazy bride, do not tell anyone about Revan being here! Do you want the Knight-Commander turning the rest of Kirkwall into a prison? I don't know about you, but I don't fancy becoming part of the lovely Gallows community. Think of the livelihoods at stake: honest traders, dishonest traders, thieves, whores! The Blooming Rose won't last a minute with Meredith in charge!" Varric pleaded dramatically, trying to disguise the wry grin on his face.

"You cannot convince me otherwise, Varric," Sebastian answered with finality.

"No, but Bianca can," the dwarf said under his breath.

"Enough of this," Revan snapped impatiently. "I tire of this wretched place. Time to leave".

"Your wish is my command, my lady," Hawke grinned. "You'll have to forgive me. I seem to have left the litter behind, so your ladyship will have to walk like the rest of us peons".

"And so ends another thrilling adventure of Hawke and company. I'm thinking a great end to this tale would be drinks at the Hanged Man," Varric announced as Revan frowned at the jibe.

"Seconded," Hawke laughed.

"Ooh, that sounds wonderful! Can I come too?" Merrill asked in a bright voice, running to catch up with the others.

"Sure thing, Daisy, but I'll be watching your consumption. Don't want you ending up in the Viscount's garden again," Varric called back fondly.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the wait again. This was originally only supposed to be a short section of the next chapter, but it kind of got away from me. I hope you enjoy it. Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed. Bugsquirt, I find Kreia one of the hardest characters to write given her manipulative nature. I would think that she would see that lie as necessary for her goal and as a sort of truth from a certain point of view given that she sees the Force as evil. Criticanon, I have read a bit about what Obsidian planned for the ending and other cut content for the game. It is a shame that Lucasarts rushed it and ended up with a butchered product. MrEmperor, thank you for the compliment. I like to think that Kallian was much different before becoming a Grey Warden, an experience that left her a bitter jerk most of the time, and that now she will mellow a little to what she used to be like. For the reviewers of my previous story, I thought Revan as a woman fit this story better, as I did not want any romantic implications in what was supposed to be a teacher/student relationship. KOTOR allowed players to play both as a man and woman no matter what canon says, and considering how fast and loose Star Wars plays with canon (especially the facepalm worthy additions to the original movies), I think its fine to write Revan as whatever gender is most right for that particular story. As for a darkside Revan not being interested in meaningless conversation, you are right, but Revan just killing everyone would not be interesting. Thank you for the review. IgnusDei, sorry you did not like the story. Characterization is always difficult to get down and I can see what you mean about Revan being stupid evil at times, but in my defense, I waffled over how dark side I wanted her and I envisioned her as having something of a split personality with an insane, sociopathic side. Kallian's fall is a little rushed, I agree, but I think anyone would lose it after seeing their father tortured and killed combined with the pressure of saving Ferelden. Thanks for reviewing.**


	14. Triumph of the Puppet Master

Only the soft breaths of the two combatants broke the stark silence of the cargo hold. They faced each other, weapons held defensively as they reflected back on the flurry of blows that had passed between them. Lux's mop of hair was mussed into wet tangles, beads of sweat caught in the rat's nest he called a beard. Brianna looked similarly disheveled, her short, white hair matted against her scalp while damp clothes clung to her skin. Her cold, silver eyes watched the man before her, widening slightly as he stabbed his vibroblade forward.

She caught the deactivated blade with the middle of her staff, pushing the thrust to the side even as Lux recoiled and struck again. She blocked him for a second time, shoving his weapon violently to the ground as she spun the reverse end of her staff toward his face. He ducked under the passing weapon, crouching and pushing himself forward to slam into Brianna's chest before she could react, taking her off her feet and pinning her to the ground.

Lux prepared a witty quip to celebrate his victory, only to lose it and very nearly his tongue as a swift elbow cracked into his jaw, smashing his teeth together. Brianna was back on her feet in a second, her staff leveling out like a blunted spear to catch Lux in the gut. "That is a killing blow," she said matter-of-factly, grinning all the while.

"Oh, please. You barely touched me," Lux wheezed from his hunched over position, screaming lungs begging for air.

"I would have skewered you," she argued. "There is no shame in losing a sparring match. Better a loss to a friend than to an enemy".

"I haven't lost yet!" he exclaimed, smashing his vibroblade down on her waiting staff.

Brianna smiled and mouthed "Sore loser" at him even as she shifted her staff from one side to the other, blocking several quick attacks and pivoting on one foot in a spinning flourish to parry the final attack above her head.

"Brianna..." he began in that familiar lecturing tone, brown eyes narrowing.

"I have been training in the Echani arts since I was a small child. I know it is never wise to show your back to an opponent," she said dismissively. "I felt your thoughts through the Force though, and I knew what you would do. Would you begrudge me a little fun?"

"And what if I was projecting those thoughts you read on purpose to confuse you?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"But you were not," she answered smartly, her mouth set in a teasing expression.

"Hmm, really? Might want to check your tunic. I think it got ripped during the fight, he said nonchalantly.

She looked down as Lux grinned, a cut in her clothing exposing her stomach but leaving her skin untouched. She placed a hand on her abdomen as her mouth hung open in shock, almost like she was expecting blood to start streaming from the slash in her tunic. "But how? There was no time for you to cut me. I had your blade trapped on my staff," she said in disbelief.

Lux casually pulled a vibroknife from his belt and spun it around his fingers, maintaining his innocent expression. "A Jedi makes an opponent see what he wants them to see. Overconfidence is the bane of many skilled warriors, some far stronger than either me or you. Remember that".

"Overconfident, huh? I think the same could be said about the person who thought he could cut through a thin layer of cloth without reaching my skin," she grumbled.

"What can I say?" he snickered, giving her a winning smile. "I'm a man of many talents".

"True enough, I suppose...but it is always dangerous though to use real weapons in training," she pointed out.

"Don't worry, Brianna. I'd never hurt you..." he said tenderly, "on purpose at least," he finished, killing the moment. "And I'm still waiting for a 'you were right, Lux'".

"And you shall...for a very long time," the Handmaiden quipped.

Lux did not look in the least put out and smiled warmly at her sour expression. "Speaking of dangerous weapons, you wanted to show me something right?"

She looked startled and a light blush shone on her pale skin. He had felt her anticipation from the moment she sought him out, her nervousness only building as he avoided the subject. It was good for her to learn patience, but he had to admit that he had an ulterior motive, as seeing her squirm with embarrassment as she waited was too good to pass up.

Brianna ruffled through her rumpled, gray robes, the only memento she had of her Jedi mother, retrieving the long, silver hilt of a lightsaber. She offered it to Lux, looking away in embarrassment as he examined it. The metal of the hilt was smooth and unadorned, discrete studs for activating each side and rough, white cloth for grip giving the weapon a rather ascetic look. The ends were likewise constructed in a simplistic manner, the silver cut severely into a rough edge, completely exposing the emitter matrix. Lux activated the weapon, two short, blue blades extending from the long hilt, completing the illusion of holding a staff.

"It certainly suits you," he admitted, handing the deactivated saberstaff back to her. "Blue is definitely your color".

"I chose it because blue is the traditional color of a Jedi Guardian," she stated wryly, quirking one eyebrow up in amusement.

"As you say," Lux shrugged with a sheepish grin. "I would be careful using that though. Double-bladed lightsabers are liable both to claim limbs from their enemies as well as from their masters".

The Handmaiden nodded vigorously in agreement, "The feel of it still seems awkward. All of the weight is in the center, and I always feel unbalanced when I wield it. I still need more training, I suppose".

"Care for another round of sparring?" Lux asked, summoning his own saber to his hand.

She nodded, holding one end of her saberstaff angled toward him. He activated his own weapon and immediately flicked it at her neck in a probing strike. She parried it lazily, lunging forward and down in a series of attacks like she was using a polearm. The two sabers hissed and buzzed as they clashed against each other, leaving a scent of smoke and lightning in the air. "Lux," she spoke in a troubled tone, "After we meet with the masters, do you plan to go after that girl?"

"That's the plan," he grunted, twisting his saber downward to block a sweeping blow aimed at his legs.

"And what do you plan to do when you find her?" she questioned, spinning her staff and bringing one side down on Lux's weapon angled protectively over his shoulder.

He pushed her away and slashed at her midsection, the Echani warrior dancing away and circling him warily. "Redeem her, obviously," he said with a look like he did not understand the point of the question.

"Are you sure that is the wisest course of action? A brush with the dark side is one thing, but the murder of a Jedi Master is another. I know the Jedi believe that no one is beyond redemption and are loath to judge too harshly, but if that girl were just a normal person without the Force, her crime would not be so easily excused. Having the gift of the Force should not be a way to avoid responsibility for our transgressions but a grave responsibility we all bear," Brianna insisted, locking her saber against Lux's, her face mere inches from his.

"Didn't you know falling into darkness was a legitimate defense? Not guilty by reason of dark side, it happens more than you'd think," he joked as Brianna fixed him with a glare. "You're right of course. She can't blame the dark side for her actions, but neither can we lack empathy for what made her this way. She's experienced the worst of horrors in her life, and we can't know what made her do this until we find her and ask".

"And if she refuses to come back to the light?" she questioned, the blue light of her blade making her eyes look like shards of ice.

"Then we'll have no choice. It won't come to that though...I know it," he stated with absolute belief.

"Is that what the Force has told you or something else?"

"Just a gut feeling really, but I've never been wrong...mostly," he laughed before Brianna's hissing saber practically cleaved him in two. "Are you trying to distract me with this conversation?"

"With the amount of skill you have shown, I hardly think that would be necessary," she rolled her eyes, deactivating one side of her lightsaber and smashing it into her opponent's cheek. "I believe that would count as a killing blow...for the second time".

Lux groaned as he held his cheek, the skin already turning a pinkish hue from the blow. "Force, I thought this was a friendly match! I think you knocked some teeth loose!" he whined, checking his mouth for blood.

"I am always serious when I fight. I would hope that you would honor me by doing the same," Brianna huffed, fixing him with an icy glare.

"To hell with honor...I think my jaw is broken," Lux complained.

"All the better then. With your mouth wired shut, I will not have to deal with all your smart comments," she spoke contemptuously, but her face betrayed the hint of a smile.

Lux continued to whine about the pain, whimpering in an overly dramatic manner as Brianna's expression grew increasingly guilty. She finally sighed and went over to him in a huff, saying, "Are you really injured? Let me see it".

She grabbed his jaw in a vice-like grip and wrenched his head around, examining the red mark on his cheek and prodding it to see if anything was actually broken. While this was going on, Lux, in clear discomfort from her manhandling, slurred, "Is this your idea of tender care, torturing the injured person?"

"You are exaggerating. At worst you will have a bruise and probably not even that. Put some ice on it," she said brusquely.

"How about a kiss? I think that'd make all this pain just disappear," he asked innocently, grinning all the while.

To his surprise Brianna returned his smile and leaned in close, her silver eyes bright with laughter. He closed his eyes, expecting to feel her lips brushed against his, but instead he felt his mouth collide with two fingers, which gently but firmly pushed him back. He opened his eyes only to see Brianna looking at him like a bemused owner would regard a misbehaving pet, her lips locked in a struggle between a warm smile and disapproving frown. "You think yourself sly, but even without the Force I can see right through you," she lectured in a playful tone. "Fight me seriously next time, and maybe I will consider your proposal".

"I'm up for a rematch. How about right now?" he said eagerly.

"Oh, I thought you were disabled from that terrible injury?" she mocked.

"The Force is a powerful healer. Already I can feel the pain ebbing away. Extraordinary! You could even call it a miracle!"

"If you keep this up, it will be a miracle if you survive long enough to get a rematch," Brianna said darkly.

"Well I happen to be quite the risk taker, and when I gamble, it tends to pay off," he smirked.

"All it takes is one loss," she reminded him.

"When I set out to get something, I never lose," he laughed, full of bravado.

"We will see about that, won't we?" Brianna called after him as he left the cargo hold.

Lux could only shake his head and grin but the euphoria he felt was short lived as a synthesized voice spoke from behind him, " A word if you will, Lux Vulnus".

"What is it, Goto?" he answered, turning to the spherical droid and wondering how it had snuck up on him so fast.

"Am I to understand that young Kallian Tabris has undergone a change of allegiance?" the droid inquired politely.

"That's one way of putting it. Word is she killed a Jedi Master and fell to the dark side. She could be on Korriban cackling madly to herself for all we know," he shrugged, unwilling to go over this particular subject again.

"I see. Unfortunate," G0-T0 responded, but the droid did not seem very disappointed.

"Yes, very," Lux agreed and began to turn away.

"Should I have her tracked down and eliminated?" the droid asked emotionlessly.

Lux turned back to look at the droid aghast, but its single camera eye betrayed nothing. Some droids were easy to read, their interfaces designed to mimic organic expression and gesture, but this one was harder to pin down. The way it could switch from being unfailingly polite to subtly condescending and the utter ruthlessness it showed disturbed him. He could not help to feel something sinister about G0-T0 despite his claimed absolute loyalty to the Republic. "That won't be necessary. I plan find her and bring her back if I can," he said with finality.

"Some might call such a strategy foolish," the droid said coolly.

"Just some? What about you?" Lux asked as he crossed his arms.

"Every asset has qualities of risk inherent to it. Often the most unpredictable assets are ones that are potentially the most profitable. A wise strategy is to assign risk over a wide range of diversified accounts. One should never rely on one investment if ultimate success is to be achieved," G0-T0 explained, his eye never leaving Lux's even as the droid hovered around.

"I wouldn't classify people as investments," the Exile spoke coldly, eyeing the droid with distrust.

"Ah, forgive me. I had forgotten the typical Jedi compassion. You may think me ruthless, but oftentimes we must dirty our hands if our cause is to be served. I have confidence that you will do what is required to maintain the stability of the Republic, as of course, you did what was necessary before at Malachor," G0-T0 remarked in a conciliatory way.

"I don't know if I could do it over again, I'd still pull the trigger at Malachor," he said harshly, angry that the droid could consider the loss of so many lives to be so unimportant.

"In my interactions with organics, I have come to recognize one of your more idiosyncratic quirks," the droid continued. "You see, in stressful situations, organic minds process information quickly, therefore making decisions far easier to make. After the fact, however, the organic mind often cannot come to terms with these decisions and broods constantly over whether circumstances dictated a different course of action. In my opinion, this function is quite useful. It enables organics that unfortunately lack much of the logic inherent in my kind to put aside moral considerations that debilitate reasoned judgment so that the goal can ultimately be realized. If it were not so, most organics would be incapable of casting aside faulty and meaningless notions that have no place in rational decision making".

"You could have just said: just do something, worry about the consequences later," Lux grumbled.

"That would be an imprecise summary of my meaning. Consequences should be considered, but only concrete, statistical factors including possible loss of life and potential gains, whether territorial, monetary, or otherwise. A cost-benefit analysis if you will".

"And how could you approach this thing with Kallian?"

"More intelligence is required to come to a conclusive answer, obviously," the droid droned on. "Based on what little we know, it may be prudent to allow her to act on her own for the time being without interference. The loss of Master Lonna Vash may in fact be an unexpected windfall given the Jedi Council's failure on so many fronts in the aftermath of the war. The Republic has no need of those who would dissuade it from striking its enemies".

"I hardly think the murder of a Jedi Master is reason to celebrate," Lux scowled.

"I take no pleasure in her death. Our enemies will not stop to mourn her loss, and we too must be proactive in devising solutions to such an unfortunate occurrence. That of course means determining ways to profit from this unexpected loss," Goto replied evenly.

"I see," Lux said in a clipped manner, turning away from the droid. He stopped though, turning back to Goto and asking, "Would you kill her to save the Republic?"

"Without hesitation. It is the purpose for which I exist, after all," the droid answered quickly in that cold, synthesized voice. "But I prefer not to liquidate useful assets. One cannot derive return from an investment if it no longer exists".

Lux regarded the droid for another moment after it fell silent, nodding as he left.

* * *

Kallian slogged through the knee-deep snow back to the stolen freighter, the asymmetrical, gray and black hulk obvious in the sea of white. Atton practically swooned when they laid eyes on it at one of Nar Shaddaa's many seedy spaceports. She saw nothing remarkable in the scarred craft, its appearance typical of other ships she had seen navigating the lonely expanse of space. She resembled the _Ebon Hawk_ to an extent, the rounded hull in the back and the irregular prow being chief among the similarities, but where Revan's ship was a half disk with forward facing prongs, this one curved into a broad wedge. Along the side was the outrigger cockpit, the way it jutted out from the freighter always making Kallian a little nervous. She would prefer if it were buried deep within the ship, away from blood-vaporizing vacuum.

Her former captain had called her _Dice Roll_, or so they learned from the ship's computer, a rather uncooperative droid brain that harbored hatred for its former master only equaled by the contempt it felt for the ones who stole it. Kallian felt it to be rather inauspicious name, considering it was named after a gamble, but Atton felt it appropriate for a Corellian ship and a smuggler to boot. He claimed this model of freighter when modified was one of the fastest and most durable ships in the galaxy, able to outrun even an interdictor cruiser, whatever that was. It was not much to look at on the outside with faded paint, a healthy number of scuffs, and numerous pits in its dull armor, and the inside was worse, but she would trust Atton's opinion for now.

Stealing her had been easy enough with Mira seemingly taking to the side of the Force affecting the mind rather well. She effortlessly convinced the captain that they had won the freighter in a game of Pazzak, the old fool even begging for a rematch after the fact with some Hutt crimelord's cargo of spice as the wager. Kallian almost pitied the dull-witted man, desperate enough that he was to risk the wrath of the Hutts all to keep his ship. She also envied Mira, though she would never admit it, for her innate ability to mind trick, a skill she sadly lacked. Mira was a little more hesitant about engaging in outright theft, something that Kallian could not understand given her former profession of selling people to the worst scum on the smuggler's moon, but she assuaged her conscience by reasoning that it was better than killing the half-witted pirate. They were only borrowing the ship after all and for the greater good too. Maybe someday they would return it, Kallian spoke out loud to her companions. She did not hear Atton whisper under his breath about the chances of that happening, so enamored was he with the freighter.

She opened the hatch, a nervous-looking Atton greeting her with Mira not too far behind. She looked at him quizzically before he spoke a single word, "Dead?"

"That's one Sith Lord that won't trouble us anymore," she sighed, running thin fingers through the tangles of her wet hair.

"Good," he said with relish. "You hurt anywhere? What's wrong with your arm?"

She saw him eyeing her right arm, the prosthesis hanging limply, and she tried to move the artificial limb without success. "Atris' Force lightning must have damaged it," she concluded before activating her lightsaber and preparing to slice it off. "You think I should cut it off? It's just dead weight now".

He looked at her like she was crazy and motioned for her to put away the saber before saying in a patronizing tone, "You know you can just get it repaired. The lightning probably fried the circuits a bit".

Kallian huffed at being treated like an idiot child, her voice filled with venom as she said, "How in the Force's name am I supposed to know how this sodding thing works, huh? Maybe if someone would explain these things to me before I made an ass of myself, but no, they get some kind of twisted pleasure out of it".

"Well you seem fine. I thought you were facing a Jedi Master. So few Jedi left that any nerf herder can become a master it seems" Mira spoke up.

"Wannabe Sith Lord more like," she spoke contemptuously. "She was overconfident...not to mention one archdemon short of a blight".

"You still speaking Basic?" Atton asked, one eyebrow quirked up in a wry expression.

"Delusional, consumed by the dark side, completely out of her fucking mind, whatever you want to call it," she said irritably.

"So what now?" Mira asked. "Lux and the rest are probably long gone from Onderon now. Should we go and warn him?"

"Lux can take care of himself. My home, on the other hand, is about to be destroyed by some Sith abomination that feeds off the Force. We need to alert someone high up in the Republic," she answered in a condescending tone.

"Well I could crash the ship into the Senate, and we could try to wrangle a Senator. On second thought, scratch that. The Sith will be attacking Coruscant, and we'd still be plowing through bureaucracy," Atton joked.

"I was thinking more local actually. We don't have the time to go anywhere else," Kallian commented.

"There's a fleet anchored off Citadel Station...don't know who's in command though," Mira shrugged.

"Think if I name drop Revan I could get a meeting?" Kallian asked, looking hopefully at her two companions.

"You might...or you might get us all arrested for associating with a war criminal slash traitor slash Sith Lord. Really depends on who's in charge I guess. We're shit out of luck if it's anyone from the Core," Atton said with a grimace, running a hand through his hair in a nervous gesture.

"Worse comes to worst, we take over the bastard's mind and steal the fleet," Kallian said simply, completely serious.

"I was hoping you'd come up with a better plan than that. Should I just turn myself in now?" Atton grinned.

"That's just plan B," Kallian informed him, glaring at the man.

"I don't want to know what plan A is, do I?" Atton sighed.

"Just ask for help obviously," she retorted. "If that fails, we grovel and beg. Mind tricks are an absolute last resort".

"Great," Atton said dryly, leaving no doubt to what he thought about her grand plan.

He followed her to the cockpit and lowered himself into the pilot's chair, his hands flying over the console as he prepped the ship for launch. "You know one of these days, your luck in a fight's going to run out. I think I'm going with you next time, to hell with whatever you say about it".

"You're a real hero, Atton. All you need is some shining armor and a princess to save and you'd be right out of some chivalrous romance," she mocked, throwing herself into the copilot's seat.

"Armor won't do much against blasters and lightsabers unless it's Mandalorian, but I already got the princess, so I guess one out of two isn't bad," he grinned.

"Princess? Well that's nice. Keep the compliments coming and you might actually get somewhere".

"What, you falling for me already?"

"Hardly," Kallian frowned. "I have enough stupidity in my life without you around. I shudder just thinking about it".

"What, I'm not your type? Could have fooled me," he shot back snidely.

"Oh, you're exactly my type. Handsome human with a penchant for sarcasm and lacking in brains? Throw in a smidge of angst and you're practically ideal," she snapped back.

Atton did a double take and was uncharacteristically silent for a moment. When he finally recovered, all he could manage was "You serious?"

Kallian gave him a wry glance and rolled her eyes. "Dumber than I thought".

"You're a real schutta you know that?"

"Thanks. I'll take that as a compliment too," she smiled as the ship rocketed into the air.

* * *

The three masters stood on the dais of the ruined council chamber, each observing the man before them coolly, all mindful to not betray any emotion. It was a fitting image, Kreia admitted, with the masters standing above the one they would judge, looking down at him like he was a criminal awaiting his fate before the bench. It was a cruel irony that no collection of individuals was less entitled to sit in judgment of another than this collection of fools and cravens.

Kreia observed from the shadows of the columned halls as they exchanged pleasantries, the hateful Force granting her sight where her body had long ago failed her, Vrook's greeting apparently in the form of a thinly veiled insult. It was unsurprising that he would act in such an uncouth manner. Owing a debt to another would always be a source of shame on the part of the benefited party, a weakness that would eat at them and make them resent their benefactor. It was inevitable. Aid someone and they would surely come to loathe you, so consumed by pride that simple charity would stand as the most grievous insult. Lux had been unwise to come to the old fool's aid, and now he would pay for his naïveté.

As their conversation moved inevitably to its climax, Kreia felt her attention waning as she felt echoes emanating from the worn stone of the temple through the Force. She had spent little time here in her youth, either as a student or as a teacher of others, her duties as a librarian necessitating her close proximity to the great archives on Coruscant. Most of the damage her former student had wrought was now repaired, but the reconstruction failed to cover up the wound that existed here, a dull pain echoing through the Force along with the silent screams of murdered children. The masters were deaf to it, willfully shutting out the agony of those who were tortured and killed here. All that mattered to them was the symbolism of such a futile gesture, the Jedi Order rising from the ashes of the old, uncowed by the brutality of the Sith. But they had never experienced the horrors of war, the chilling wails of soldiers abandoned on the battlefield slowly fading as their wounds and exposure silenced them, the sight of beings reduced to splattered blood and chunks of meat by weapons unleashing power far more terrible than the Force itself, or the blackened hulks of destroyed ships surrounded by frozen bodies sparkling in the deep black like stars. If they had known such things, perhaps they would not insist upon this folly.

A surge of strong emotions brought her back from such thoughts; confusion and rage emanating from her apprentice at the 'truth' these supposed masters offered. But even then, they spoke lie after lie, and Kreia could not help but speak the truth out loud, contradicting each of their self-serving pronouncements. A wound in the Force, that is what they named him. They were wrong. _She _was a wound in the Force, twisted and corrupted by the power of Malachor, a festering, weeping gash that radiated pain throughout the fabric of the universe. He was something far greater than that. He was the death of the Force, a pestilence that bred rot and infection, withering the very essence of the universe. Through him, the enemy of all life would be extinguished, and the price of betrayal would be paid in full.

She heard him try to reason with them as they revealed their final treachery, desperation rising in his voice as he was frozen in a stasis field. They offered meaningless apologies and false justifications for their crime, but even their invocation of duty and false regret could not hide the fear that motivated them. Kreia could not fault them in truth, as it was man's nature to be self-interested, caring nothing for the needs of their fellows. However, these particular men claimed to act for the good of all beings, dedicated to the duty to the Order they held in sacred trust. Hypocrisy was the ugliest of human flaws. They sought to judge her apprentice, making him a scapegoat for all their failures, but judgment was a double-edged sword.

"This one comes to you speaking wisdom, and yet you reject it? The arrogance!" she spoke coldly, projecting power in her voice.

The masters turned to her, their eyes narrowing as they looked upon another of those they cast aside. She could feel their surprise, her presence having escaped their stunted senses, but also their fear and anger, two emotions they would claim had been left behind them. "You!" Vrook pointed, his mouth curled into a vicious snarl. "Is this the one you have turned to for teachings, Exile? If so, you seek Revan's path, and you will fall as surely as she did".

Kreia smiled at that, a grim, knowing smile. Vrook Lamar had always been quick to anger and contemptuous of those who did not share his rigid views on what a Jedi should be. How many of his students lost their lives during the war in an attempt to thumb their noses at the old fool? "_Too many_," she thought, remembering the scattered bodies on worlds sacked by those savages, "_and your efforts were in vain_._ He will never change...even at the end_".

She could feel Lux straining to look at her, but she did not need to look into his eyes to know what lay behind them. He was still a naïve child even now, wondering what she would do now confronted by three Jedi Masters, all of whom would not hesitate to strike her down. The last part did not occur to him though, as even after all the Jedi had done to him, the lies they told, the betrayals they wrought, he could not bring himself to acknowledge what they were. "_Ironic_," she thought, "_that it is only when we are blind that we truly see_". It was time they opened their eyes, all of them, to the world as it was. It would be the last lesson she taught her apprentice, that lies and truths are one in the same. She would teach him, as she was taught, the lesson of betrayal.

She paused at the climax of her speech, the words escaping from her mouth almost sounding as if another person spoke them. She felt like she was in a theater, watching as the player on the stage acted out a scene, the tension building as nervous energy crackled through the hall, the audience watching with bated breath as she took a dramatic pause. Now was the moment the hero became the villain or perhaps the villain the hero. It mattered little. All that mattered was the change, the moment where everything had been building up to finally being realized. "Now...see the Force through the eyes of the Exile," she spoke.

They ignited their lightsabers, anticipating the attack. The fools probably expected something crude and direct like Force lightning, but her method was far more elegant. She simply plucked the Force from them, tearing their connection away and leaving them in an unstable state between death and life. They did not last long. Without the warm embrace of the Force they were nothing, weak and incapable, not even having the strength of will to hold onto their lives. The Force had been living for them this whole time, and without it, they knew not how to survive, and so they died. The Force was the air they breathed, and without it, they suffocated. She watched them fall with indifference, feeling the horror of her apprentice freeze his blood before he too succumbed to the pain radiating through the vast web of the Force. Had he really expected any other outcome? "_More fool you then_," she though with a tinge of anger, a flare she quickly extinguished.

She left him lying in the courtyard, a prior appointment not allowing her to linger for long. When he woke he would have questions, but her purposes were best served if he formed his own conclusions. Should he think her an enemy, all the better when Malachor drew him back. His anger and sadness at her betrayal would aggravate the wound within, and coupled with the power of the broken world, the Force would be torn asunder. If he would kill her after that, an unlikely possibility in her own opinion, she would go into darkness free.

"What have you done with Lux?" a sharp voice spoke beside her.

Kreia did not turn to acknowledge the girl, a cruel smile forming on her lips. "Has your broken oath to that fool Atris stunted your senses, little girl, or have you closed your eyes to the truth?"

"You didn't...you wouldn't! He was your apprentice...he trusted you, loved you!" she despaired, her words filled with agony and regret.

"A useful tool, nothing more. Faith and friendship can be far more useful in bending pawns to your will than fear. A servant may fight for you but not willingly. A friend, however, will gladly die for you, never knowing that they were just another slave to your plans," she explained, taking cruel pleasure in deceiving the girl.

The snap of a lightsaber activating filled the air, and Kreia felt the fiery blade kiss her throat. "Murderer!" the girl hissed. "You will answer for this! Lux...Lux..."

"Just like your mother, oath breaker and betrayer of everything you believe in. Such a pathetic infatuation...so humorous to behold..." Kreia chuckled as the lightsaber singed her skin.

"What do you know of my mother, and you dare to speak to me of betrayal? I should cut that hypocritical tongue from your lying mouth!" she raged, trying to hold back the bitter tears obscuring her vision.

"What do I know of your mother?" Kreia remarked sweetly. "More than you know, child. Perhaps I should tell you...tell you of the cursed blood that runs through your veins. You cloak yourself in honor to hide the mask of treachery you wear. It is truly remarkable how much you look like..."

Speak one more word, and I will wipe your perfidious form from the face of the galaxy!" Brianna growled. "You know nothing! You have a snake's forked tongue and speak naught but lies. I should kill you where you stand!"

"Is that why you built that weapon, to serve as an executioner's blade? I thought the Jedi refused to kill their prisoners, or is the Code so easily cast aside? I suppose with Lux out of the way, that is one less temptation that need concern you," she quipped, feeling the spike of fury threatening to overcome the girl.

"I am sorely tempted," she agreed coldly. "What is another broken oath after the first really? But that is what you want, is it not? You Sith seem to take perverse pleasure in making others like you, perhaps because you want others to lower themselves to your level. It must be lonely down there. I will not give you the pleasure. Atris will judge you...judge us both. Will you come willingly or die here?"

"More than willingly, though I think you will be disappointed when we reach our destination. You will have to live with your guilt, as no one will grant you absolution. The dead are deaf to the pleas of the living," she said cryptically, that knowing smile sending a shudder through her captor. Kreia could not help feeling disappointed even though she knew it was a gift beyond measure that Brianna was truly her father's daughter.

* * *

Carth Onasi looked out at the surface of Telos gently curving below the haphazard modules and superstructure of Citadel Station. The solid brown of the continents was slowly becoming greener and the drab gray of the oceans carried a hint of their former cerulean beauty as the restoration efforts continued. Telos was not alone in bearing the scars of Malak's unchecked brutality, but perhaps luckier than most, now it had a chance to recover. If the Republic succeeded here, other devastated worlds could maybe one day see the return of their displaced populaces now scattered throughout the Rim.

The annoying beep of the comlink woke Carth from his silent meditation, and he reached out angrily to answer what was probably another report of friction between the various contractors in theory supposed to be working together in restoring his homeworld. He had already received half a dozen this morning, all about the sketchy practices of Czerka. When he had asked why a company known to be involved in slaving operations and with a virtually uncontested history of being supportive of the Sith during the Civil War, both allegations that could be readily attest to being true, had received such a lucrative contract to supervise the operations on Telos, he was pointed to the large contribution they gave to the sector's Senator for his reelection campaign. Typical politicians.

"Admiral, there is a woman here requesting a meeting with you," his aid informed him.

"That's great, but I'm not in the business of meeting with every person who comes to see me. Show her out," he said sharply, not amused that the communications officer would interrupt him for something so unimportant.

"She is rather insistent, sir. She says...well she _claims_ that she is Revan's apprentice and that she needs your help," the aid spoke with a degree of puzzlement.

That got Carth's attention. He had heard nothing of Revan for years ever since she started recovering some of her lost memories. Even before that, they did not talk much, an occasional insult here or a cutting remark there being the norm. But after that she simply disappeared, leaving for who knows where. The Republic's forces had been on alert for a short while after her departure, the Jedi Council fearing that she might have lapsed back to her old ways, but she had not returned. Even Bastilla knew nothing of her whereabouts or her state of mind, the bond forged between them blocked by some unseen darkness. And now she was contacting him, leaving him confused on whether to feel excited or terrified. "Revan's apprentice?" he repeated questioningly. "Can she prove it?"

"Well I don't know, sir," his aid conceded. "She is wearing Jedi robes, and I have her lightsaber in my possession. If you are asking me whether I can verify her identity though...I don't know if I can. Should I have her detained?"

"Get a message through to Bastilla and tell her to come immediately. Hold Revan's supposed apprentice until she arrives and confiscate any weapons she might have," Carth ordered, his mind jumping around to any number of reasons why Revan would contact them and whether the prickly woman he knew would even take on an apprentice. "_Would give her someone to criticize at least," _he thought darkly.

When he first met Revan, Nox as she was named then by a not particularly clever Jedi Council, he was unsure what to think of her. She could be kind and funny in a slightly mean-spirited way, but mostly she was bratty and demanding, like a spoiled child almost. She belittled others and seemed incapable of caring for or even understanding their problems. When Bastilla joined up with them and Revan regained her connection to the Force, he noticed how the famous padawan shot concerned looks at Revan, the lack of empathy she displayed growing more apparent over time. Despite her obvious misgivings, Bastilla grew closer to Revan, probably finding some commonality in their shared contempt for most of the galaxy's denizens not to mention egos that could dwarf a gas giant. His relationship with Revan on the other hand was not pleasant, her callousness and abrasive personality constantly grating on him.

He supposed she was not all bad. At other times, Revan could be surprisingly sweet, at least toward those who held her favor, and righteous in her actions. She went out of her way to save his son though she complained throughout the entire ordeal, her constant refrain being that it would be far easier to kill him, as after all, he was just another Sith. And when Juhani was confronted with the slaver who murdered her parents, Revan cut him down herself rather than let the young Jedi taint her hands through murder. There was something about her, something that attracted others to her, made them care about her goals and admire her despite the cruelty she displayed.

What worried him more were the hints of darkness he had seen within after learning her true identity, the strain of coping with such a revelation turning her into an embittered monster who lashed out at both friend and enemy. He remembered thinking they were all fools for not seeing what she was, Mission so enamored with the idea of her as a cool, big sister, Zalbar with his unshakable loyalty, the Mandalorian who could only see the glorious battles she would lead them to. Waiting on the beach on the Rakatan homeworld, he had waited for the inevitable, so sure was he that she would fall back into darkness where Revan had been born once before. Then he saw the bright face of Juhani, smiling shyly at the woman she was clearly smitten with, along with the gruff visage of Jolee trying to hide the pride he felt about the woman whom he saw as a surrogate daughter. Revan had not turned to the dark side in that tainted place where she and Malak had uncovered the ancient evil of the Star Forge. She rejected Bastilla's offer of reassuming the mantle of Darth Revan, claiming that the Dark Lord was dead. He had been wrong.

So they were heroes, but Revan would have nothing to do with the Jedi. Friends went their separate ways, leaving Revan to brood alone on nightmares of the past. Was she in trouble? Was she struggling with the call of the dark side? Had she found what she was looking for at the edge of space? A million questions buzzed in Carth's mind as a disheveled Bastilla practically ran into the room, her breath ragged and her normally pale face flushed.

"Revan has returned?" she asked immediately, her eyes darting around the room even though the Force must have told her that she was not there.

"Someone claiming to be her apprentice. My aid says she come asking for help," he answered her as he struggled to keep the wry grin off his face. For someone like Bastilla who took pride in maintaining an aloof and calm air to get so worked up, the news of Revan must have really put her in a frazzled state.

"Where is she?" Bastilla asked impatiently.

A Republic soldier entered the room at that point, bearing a lightsaber than Carth recognized immediately, the black stone inlay cut into silver metal glinting in the light. The trooper hesitated over whom to give the weapon to, but quickly passed it on when Bastilla held out her hand. She immediately activated it, the familiar bronze blade erupting from the hilt and bathing her in orange light. "Well," she said, deactivating the saber, "where is Revan's so-called apprentice?"

Another soldier motioned for someone outside the room to enter, a vague look of suspicion on her face as the small figure entered. She was short of stature, perhaps barely reaching five feet and thin enough that she almost appeared unhealthy. The woman had an uncanny look about her, but Carth brushed it off as merely the small differences present in near-human species. Her most obvious defining feature was her long, pointed ears that framed her face, similar to a Sephi though more pronounced. She wore simple Jedi robes over her tanned skin, one arm hanging awkwardly from a cutoff sleeve. The hint of metal beneath tightly wound bandages gave him the impression that her artificial limb was out of commission, but there was no obvious damage to it.

As he took this all in, his gaze focused on her large, wide eyes and his heart almost stopped in his chest. Golden eyes rimmed with red were looking at him coldly, a color only present in one particular kind of Force user. He pulled his blaster faster than anyone in the room could react and aimed it at the point right between those monstrous eyes. "I don't know whether you're brave or stupid for coming to me like this. I thought the Sith were supposed to be cunning," he spoke evenly even as anger rose within, the soldiers around him finally leveling their blasters at her at his accusation.

The woman's golden eyes widened still further, and she held up one hand in a gesture of surrender, the other still hanging limp at her side. When she spoke, her words carried a strange accent as she quickly protested her innocence. "Listen! I'm not a Sith! These eyes...are just a part of me, something I can't change. I only came here to ask for help...please believe me".

Carth did not lower his blaster, his suspicious mind always on the lookout for potential betrayal. "You say you're Revan's apprentice, but she never mentioned any apprentice...save Malak," he interrogated, but rather than looking guilty, the woman's mouth hung open in surprise.

"You knew her?" she asked. "I guess if you were in the military there'd be a chance..."

"Revan was our companion in the war against Malak," Bastilla spoke up warily. "Both of us were there when she slew the Sith Lord. I am Bastilla Shan, a Jedi Knight, and this is Admiral Carth Onasi. I assume you knew who you requested to speak with?"

The fiery-haired woman grimaced and looked away sheepishly. "I just asked for the highest ranking person they could get me," she admitted before turning back to Bastilla. "I'm Kallian Tabris by the way. Revan mentioned you to me once. She said you were friends...and that she saved you from the dark side".

Bastilla scoffed disbelievingly, her dark eyes flashing. "Her, save me? Hardly. If I had not bought time for her to escape on Malak's flagship, we would all be dead now. Of all the nerve, that woman!"

Kallian looked at her curiously before saying, "I don't know what you're so mad about. She never talked about her past much or the people she knew, but she'd always repeat things you said like 'no one deserves execution, no matter what their crimes'. I guess you weren't as close as she let on".

Bastilla's eyes widened in surprise, truly touched that the woman she constantly fought with valued her words enough to impart them to others. "No...that is not true," she began before recovering her haughty attitude and saying dismissively, "Well...at least she learned something of value from me".

"Kallian then turned to Carth or more accurately to the barrel of a blaster pistol held inches from her face. "Care to put that away? I'd rather not go around for the rest of my life with a charred hole through my skull," she asked, and after a moment's hesitation, he complied. "I can't remember if she mentioned you, Admiral. She might have...or not".

"I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't. Revan and I had...an antagonistic relationship to say the least," he admitted. "We disagreed on a lot of things, and what happened during the war was...harder to forgive".

"So what? Revan pisses everyone off. You're hardly alone in not getting along with her," Kallian shrugged. "I know I wanted to strangle her a few times, and I even tried to kill her once, no joke. She saved me though, so I have to give her that".

"Revan has a knack for that though she'd probably say it was beneath her to help us lesser mortals," Carth observed with a smile.

"When you say she saved you...you refer to the dark side, correct?" Bastilla questioned sharply. "I can sense it in you, all that rage and fear, locked away".

Kallian nodded slowly, conscious of how she must look to them. "I lost myself for awhile. I could not control my anger and hatred, and I let it control me. Revan brought me back...though she almost killed me in the process," she explained, her hand unconsciously moving to the scar on her abdomen.

"The Jedi believe no one is beyond redemption. It is our duty to try to save those who have fallen, even if they do not want to be," Bastilla spoke. "We all have our weaknesses, and the dark side is nothing if not an opportunistic predator".

"Speaking from experience?" Kallian remarked smartly, but surprisingly Bastilla did not seem to take offense.

"As painful as it is for me to admit, yes. If I was there for Revan's redemption, she was there for my own. She and I are connected in more ways than one," she spoke softly.

"Now about what you wanted to tell us..." Carth tried to steer the conversation back. "You said Revan was in trouble?"

"Yes, she's trapped on my homeworld as far as I know, and the Sith could attack at any time. She needs help...my world needs help; can you spare some ships or an army maybe?" she asked, cringing all the while at being forced to make such a ridiculous request.

"Oh, just an army. That shouldn't be too hard," Carth scoffed.

Bastilla appeared more sympathetic at least. "Where is this world, and what Sith are attacking? Remnants of Malak's empire?" she asked seriously.

"In the Unknown Regions, and I don't know much about the Sith...only that he's the one that attacked someplace called Katarr," she answered with a shrug. "HK can give you the coordinates to my homeworld".

Both Bastilla and Carth narrowed their eyes when they heard the name of the dead planet, the tomb of untold numbers of Jedi. "Are you sure of this, the Sith who destroyed the Council on Katarr?" the Jedi questioned in a disbelief.

"I'm not sure. I was only told this by another Sith, Darth Traya, Revan's former master. She said he would destroy my world and kill Revan, oh and the Republic would fall," the frowning woman explained.

After she was finished, Carth turned to Bastilla and whispered, "Even if we brought a fleet, we wouldn't know what we were up against. What do you think?"

"We must go. The Sith will not be stopped by wishing they never return. If this threat proves too strong, at least the Republic will have warning," she concluded.

"A warning the politicians will promptly ignore. Do you even think we can trust her? A lot of people can put a good story together, and I wouldn't put any stock in anyone with eyes like that," he murmured suspiciously eyeing the scowling woman warily. Kallian could not help feeling a little offended, both for thinking she was deaf and this baseless slander, but she knew that in his position, such concerns would be justified.

"I sense no deceit from her. There is darkness in her, yes, but a spy for the Sith would attempt to conceal it far better than she has," the Jedi Knight said with certainty.

"I have one more request," Kallian spoke quickly, anticipation and hope rising within her. "My people have been long persecuted by the humans on my world. Revan said the Jedi don't tolerate injustice, and the Republic treats all its races equally, or at least tries to. Can you help us, perhaps let us join your Republic?"

"The Republic doesn't have a presence in the Unknown Regions. I doubt the Senate will approve an intervention especially if the planetary government is opposed," the admiral shook his head.

"We don't have a world government. I didn't even know it was possible to travel through space a few years ago. My world is made up of little kingdoms that don't even know what's across the ocean," she explained quickly. "My people are treated like animals, forced into slavery or worse. If you saw what it was like, you couldn't let it stand".

"The Senate will be even less willing to deal with a primitive world, and it might make your situation worse, opening your world up to pirates and slavers from the Rim. The Republic will not be able to protect you so far from the Core," Carth told her, knowing all too well how the corrupt bureaucracy of the Republic conducted peacekeeping missions. Kleptocracy at its finest. "I'll try my best to help you, but the Republic is no savior. Just look how badly they're kriffing up the restoration of Telos. I wouldn't get your hopes up".

"If your race is treated truly as you say, the Jedi may take some action, but there are few of us left. We will do all we can, I promise you that," Bastilla added.

"Thank you," Kallian lowered her head in a respectful manner. She knew they had promised relatively little, but she had not expected much to begin with. Perhaps the Force was truly with her now, guiding her to Revan's friends instead of an unknown and uncaring party. "We should leave soon. The Sith certainly will not wait".

* * *

"So Revan...what's the world you come from like?" Merrill asked hesitantly, her large eyes looking off in every direction except toward the woman she was taking to.

"The world I was born on...I remember little of it. I grew up on Coruscant at the Temple," she answered. "The capital of the Republic".

"That was one of the stars you showed us on that map, right? It looked very pretty," she continued, unabashed at Revan's standoffish personality.

"Coruscant is beautiful, I suppose. From space it glitters in the darkness, orange and yellow lines crisscrossing on a bed of purple and gray. The surface is covered with gleaming towers and tapered spires soaring above the clouds, and at night, the city comes alive with light brighter than any sun. There are no forests, no oceans, not even a patch of bare ground, just an endless range of mountains of steel and glass".

"That sounds like a nightmare, no ocean? I don't know what I'd do with myself," Merrill's friend, the obnoxious and lascivious Isabella interjected.

"You could go pirate out on the Outer Rim, preying on spice freighters from Kessel or stalk the Perlemian Trade Route and Hydian Way. Space is an endless ocean, vast and empty. The Republic fleet is made up of hundreds of thousands of vessels, but they can only patrol a miniscule portion of the galaxy. If you hesitate to waylay innocents, you could always become a smuggler, the noble and ancient profession as they say on Nar Shaddaa".

"Doesn't that sound exciting Isabella? How romantic, traveling amidst the stars to places unknown, meeting new people, having adventures. It sounds so exciting!" Merrill gushed.

"Kitten, going someplace new always sounds great at first...until you get there. I'm sure this Coruscant, if it even exists, isn't the utopia she's making it out to be. A big city just means more room for beggars and seedy bars. Not that that's always a bad thing," the pirate shrugged.

"If you are expecting any world to be prefect, expect to be sorely disappointed. Coruscant is like a jewel set in a gilded ring. Underneath the golden exterior, there is nothing but base metal corroding with rust, but if anything, the darker parts of the city only make it more interesting. The best times I ever had there were exploring the Undercity, deep beneath the surface layers. There are people there who have lived for generations without knowing that the sky even exists, their homes buried beneath miles of machinery and crumbling buildings left to deteriorate when new levels of the city were built. It has been so long since the dawn of the Republic and even before then that no one remembers what Coruscant looked like before or when the city was first constructed. Like the human homeworld, our history has been lost to myth and legend".

"Now you're sounding like Kitten here, lost in the past. You both should just let the past lie and live your lives. That's what I do," Isabella suggested with a smirk.

"Yes, I'm sure your life is a model for us all. I am quite satisfied with the path I have embarked on without taking your unsolicited advice," Revan said dismissively.

"Oh, it's not for your benefit. I just can't have you filling Kitten's head with all this nonsense about sailing the stars and whatnot. She already has her head in the stars as it is," Isabella said affectionately, bringing in the girl for a tight embrace as Merrill's ears turned a vibrant pink.

Revan felt a mixture of revulsion and slight amusement at the sickeningly sweet display, smirking as several templars tripped over themselves tracking the pair with their hidden gazes. At least these two would be useful in distracting the attentions of these fanatics though their antics also attracted far more stares than she would have liked.

Sebastian had made good on his promise to reveal her presence to whatever passed in this wretched city for the authorities, conveniently leaving out the involvement of Hawke and his friends. She could almost respect his loyalty to this world's fanciful religion and the people who represented it, but more so she could admire the dedication he showed toward his friends. Apostates and blood mages surrounded him, but as long as they acted reasonably, he would not turn them in, at least not without the support of Hawke. His resolve had made things far more difficult for her though, as templars were now a routine sight on every winding street, ever vigilant for a woman dressed in dark, foreign clothing. It was tiring to affect the minds of those around her, subtly influencing them to ignore her out-of-place garments and armor, and she had him to blame for that.

"It's a shame you can't teach me how to do that," Isabella said wistfully, eyeing the vigilant templars with a look of longing. "I could walk into the Viscount's treasury and rob him blind right under his nose. Oh, it would be glorious!"

"You are better off relying on your own skills. The Force is a crutch that should not be leaned on too heavily lest it snap under the weight of the user," the masked woman lectured.

"Here comes the 'with great power comes great responsibility' speech," the pirate said with a roll of her eyes.

"First of all, I doubt you even have a concept of what responsibility means," Revan sneered, "and even if you did, you have no power of any consequence worth worrying about. So it would be pointless to say anything of the sort to you".

"You're worse than Aveline. Why don't you head up to the Blooming Rose and loosen up. The girls up there have seen everything; you won't even scare them with a face like that," Isabella said with an evil grin.

"Isabella!" Merrill whispered reproachfully.

"I'm only joking, Kitten," she laughed, ruffling the girl's dark hair. "I wouldn't mind going a round or two with you. If what Kitten told me is true about how you fight, I can only imagine how you'd be in bed".

Isabella could not hide her wide smirk as she waited for Revan to snap back with a scathing remark, but the prickly woman's mind was elsewhere, her gray eyes focused on the sky. She could feel the stirrings in the Force, the feeling of disquiet as _he_ turned his attention to this world. In what was left of his ruined mind, he became aware of their presence, the faint pangs of hunger building to an all-consuming, gluttonous desire. "I do not understand, master. Am I to play the role of executioner, or do you mean for me to fulfill another role?" she muttered, frowning at the hazy sky.

"Hello, you still there?" Isabella asked, waving her hand in front of Revan's narrowed eyes, snapping her out of a trance.

Revan gave a start, holding her head with one hand and grimacing. For a moment, she thought he had felt her presence, but she must have imagined it. There was nothing left in that ruined mind that would allow him to acknowledge another other than as something to feed on. "Are you alright?" Merrill asked, her wide eyes filled with misplaced concern.

"Just thinking," she waved her off, pretending that nothing was wrong.

"And I suppose those bruises under your eyes are just from falling down some stairs too," Isabella rolled her eyes.

"...thinking about how I am going to save this world and if I even can or should," Revan finished, a high dose of pettiness leaving her unable to keep silent.

Isabella only scoffed at this, turning her attention to Merrill and saying, "Honestly, this woman is going to drive me to drink".

"But you already _do_ drink a lot, Isabella," the girl reminded her.

"It's a joke, Kitten. Getting a straight answer out of her is like sailing against the wind," she sighed, opening the creaking, rotted door to the Hanged Man. The gang was all there already, whispering furtively to each other even though the earsplitting racket of the tavern made it unnecessary.

"Wondered what you two were getting up to," Hawke greeted them with a raise of his mug. "And I thought you'd be gone by now, Revan".

"I will be leaving soon enough. My friends are coming for me, so it is best to just stay put for now," she informed him. "What? Am I not welcome among you anymore?"

"You know how I hate lying to people. Are you really going to force me to do this?" Hawke smirked.

"Please, by all means".

"My dear friend, how could you ever question our love and devotion to you? Of course we want you around!" he said passionately, one hand clutched to his heart and the other outstretched toward the grinning woman. "Now we can have even more fun dodging templars together!"

"Yes, that Sebastian went through with it after all. I misjudged him it seems," she shrugged, looking unconcerned.

"Choir boy's just pouting because you refused to make a martyr out of him. Poor, misguided kid's been doing his best to get killed for faith and the Maker for a while now, but alas..." Varric joked.

"The stupid bastard's gone and riled up that mad dog Meredith now. Maker help us all," Anders growled, pounding his fist onto the table. "They were roughing up the alienage elves earlier, and it won't be long till they do a sweep of Darktown. And it's all your fault. Good mages are going to have to choose life as an empty husk or death because of you".

"Yes, because _I_ informed your Chantry masters of my presence here. They were quite polite about it too...even offered me tea before condemning me as a demon or whatever nonsense they spout," she mocked.

"The imminent massacre of so many mages in no laughing matter," Anders continued in a heated tone, his eyes flashing an otherworldly blue.

"That is where you are wrong. Killing for such a ludicrous reason is the height of comedy. What a joke this world is where even the enslavement and murder of so many is a farce," Revan laughed coldly.

"Only a farce for those looking down upon us from high," Hawke remarked nonchalantly, but no one could mistake the steel in his voice. "I doubt I'll find it particularly humorous when I'm getting skewered by some templar who gets off on torturing mages".

"Obviously the templars are quite proficient in hunting down renegade mages. It's not like a revolution's being plotted by a paranoid abomination somewhere in Darktown without them noticing," Fenris remarked, always eager to make a biting comment at the expense of Anders.

"Tip them off if you are so concerned about it," the mage sneered. "I'm surprised you haven't already".

"If only I could," he growled. "Turning you in would cast suspicion on Hawke as well, as you well know given the time you spend stalking him. I can't have you dragging others down with your madness, but I can't seem to do anything about it either".

"You know he's a mage too. You tend to forget," Anders snapped back.

"Yes, but he's not weak like you, abomination," Fenris observed.

"Hey, that's enough fighting over me now. Not that I don't appreciate the sentiment though," Hawke interrupted, rolling his eyes at the bickering pair. "So...we were just telling Aveline and Anders here about our little adventure. Merrill's probably already told you Isabella, right?"

"She told me a fairy tale about _starships_ and great wars and a whole lot of other nonsense if that's what you mean," she smirked before seeing Merrill's pout. "Oh, don't look at me like that, Kitten".

"Amazing, the whore has a brain after all," Aveline stated, earning a rude gesture in return. "Honestly Hawke, your story is a tad ridiculous. People living among the stars? Nations of the sky? I thought you had more sense".

"I didn't say I believed it," he responded defensively. "I was just telling you what I saw and what we were told. It doesn't matter much anyway since whatever that thing sealed there was no longer exists".

"Demons are often trapped between our world and the Fade and need mortals to free them. That's probably what you found there, an old and clever demon, hoping to use your body as a conduit into our world," Anders reasoned, but most did not seem particularly convinced.

"It showed me the worst moments of my life, and it definitely was not taking place in the Fade. Whatever it was, it wasn't like any demon I've ever seen," Hawke spoke darkly, a shadow seeming to fall over his eyes.

"Magic is always dangerous, and that place was filled with it. Whoever built it and whatever secrets are buried there...it's better to leave all that be," Fenris concluded, shooting glares at anyone who would dare to contradict him.

"With the holocron destroyed, there is little to fear there. What darkness remains will endure but only as an echo in the Force," Revan spoke quietly.

"Yes, yes, we've heard it all before," Hawke said in an exasperated tone. "You're very dedicated to your peculiar religion; we understand that. You can drop the mystical act".

"Better yet, you can return to this 'Republic' or whatever before we are all dragged into your feud with the Chantry," Aveline huffed, looking at Revan with distaste.

"Worry not. My friends will soon arrive to take me back, and then you can stop angsting over my presence here," she shrugged, equal parts annoyed and amused.

"Will they arrive in a floating ship kept aloft by a team of star dragons?" Anders asked wryly.

"Something like that, yes," Revan answered, unconcerned that most of them, even after seeing unexplainable technology with their own eyes, did not believe her. "But the dragons use their fire breath to propel the ship, not their wings as you were most likely thinking".

"Your tales keep getting taller, Revan. Dragons? Everyone knows flying ships use griffons," Varric deadpanned, eliciting a squeal of delight from Merrill.

"Is that true?" she asked, and even Revan could not tell if she was being serious or not.

"Whatever they arrive in, I hope it will be soon. I would be most displeased if _that thing_ makes an early appearance, and I am forced to deal with it alone," she complained, ignoring the overly enthusiastic elven girl.

"Please don't tell me more crazy is coming after you. I think I've had enough, thank you," Hawke sighed.

"I would not describe it as crazy, as that would imply that it actually had a mind however dysfunctional. It's not your concern though, so do not worry yourself over it," she spoke softly, knowing it would do no good to inform them of the monster fast approaching. "The future will come to us in time. For now, we can only focus on what is right before us".

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for being so grossly negligent in updating once again. Parts of this chapter sat around for months while I tried to decide where I wanted to take this, and now that it is complete, it ended up being mostly filler. I tried writing a more extensive Dantooine section, but after rewriting it a few times and trying different points of view, I just scrapped it. With this chapter done, or at least as done as it is going to get, I am kind of at a loss of what to do next. I have snippets of major plot points written, but alot of them do not match up with each other. I really dislike this chapter, but I cannot leave it hanging forever. I hope the next one will be better. Thanks to all who read and reviewed. MrEmperor, I liked the similarity between the Infinite Empire enslaving humans and the Tevinter Imperium destroying Arlathan, so I had Revan bring it up. Maybe I should have given less detail, less is more after all. Sebastian is being flanderized in this fic a little bit as the religious fanatic, but he is loyal to Hawke and the rest of the gang. Revan's redemption is really more of a realization of how she has changed for the worse and resolving to recapture some of her youthful spirit. Thanks for the review Gogolu. World, I thought it would be interesting to if the Tevinters who supposedly destroyed the elven homeland were actually Sith. The Force would be indistinguishable from magic to most of those in Thedas. Mattias88, Revan might get involved in a conflict with Meredith and her templars, but since this is set in early Act II, the revolution is still a ways off. Revan would probably hope both sides killed the other off anyway if it came to war. Bugsquirt, you are right in that writing about a mysterious character's past kind of takes away from their mystique, but I just thought it was so interesting to go into that I could not help myself. I wanted to show the negative traits she had as a child including her bullying and self-centered behavior that would stay with her when she became a Jedi but not in an evil way but like how a spoiled child would act. I think Merrill is interesting because she has such good intentions, but her actions bring nothing but evil. If she was a Jedi, I could see her falling to the dark side really easily. I never really used Sebastian when I played DAII, but when I did, I thought he was kind of smug superiority about him. Maybe I am just biased because he was a dlc character. As for Hawke, he is really just a side character in this. He does not even have a first name, and I mainly have him in this story to snark alongside Varric. Maybe I should give him more development. No character should be a throwaway. AhhMyLife and Taeniaea, thanks for the reviews, and I'm glad you liked the chapter. Sorry for huge author notes. As a side note, I take back what I said about the Old Republic. It is surprisingly good, even if the mmo parts do not really appeal to me. I love all the little things Bioware put in for fans of KOTOR and the story, at least the one I have played, is really engaging. If you get a chance, play it. **


	15. You Can't Go Home Again

"Master Lux!" one of the younglings called out from the enclave courtyard. "Master Revan has arrived, and they say she's going to give a speech. You have to come watch!"

Lux tried to hide his scowl with a bright smile, his anger at that woman only increasing as he looked upon the beaming face of Mical. Even though it was only a respectful title, it still irked him to hear her referred to as a master. By all rights she should still be a padawan, but Arren Kae had gone against the Council's wishes and declared her a Jedi Knight. He disliked how she cultivated the hero worship of the younglings and stole padawans from their masters, manipulating them into joining the slaughter the war against the Mandalorians was quickly becoming. Someday Mical would be a fine Jedi, but not if Revan and her cronies had their way.

"Then I suppose we should go see what she has to say...if you have finished meditating on your morning lessons," Lux answered with playful reproachfulness in his voice.

He could see the disappointment on the boy's face, his excitement swiftly crushed by his taskmaster of a teacher. "Well...I suppose you can finish later, but you must promise to actually do it this time," Lux gave in, knowing that he should be enforcing discipline among the younglings lest their training suffer, but he really did not want to develop a reputation as the second coming of Master Vrook.

"Of course, Master! You can count on me," he spoke happily, falling in step beside the grinning Jedi Knight.

"I'm holding you to that, and I mean real meditation, focusing your mind and thinking back on your training. I don't mean sleeping for a few hours. Some of your fellow students seem to think we're all Force blind, but contrary to popular belief, we know the difference between meditation and dozing off," he lectured.

Mical fidgeted at this, obviously guilty. "I'm always dutiful in my training, Master. Someday I'll be as great a Jedi as you and Master Revan".

"Compliments don't work on me, kid," Lux said dryly, inwardly laughing at the thought of the bratty Sorcha as a shining example of the Order.

"Citizens of the Republic!" a commanding voice spoke from the concourse outside the walls of the enclave. As they came upon the crowd, Lux caught sight of her standing on a low wall, the stone-faced Malak still almost at eye-level with her despite his lower position. Sorcha was in her element, brown cloak swirling around her as she paced back and forth, polished armor glinting in the sunlight. Her face was hidden behind a hood and mask, the unmistakable Mandalorian make of the latter never making any sense to him, nor to anyone else. "Many of you who stand before me support our crusade against the barbarians who seek to destroy our great civilization. Many of you also have doubts, perhaps believing what the Masters of the Council have said, that the true threat has not yet revealed itself. Others still have not yet come to a conclusion, but all of you know where I stand".

She paused for a moment, the visor of her mask seeming to look through everyone present. "It is not my intention to change your mind or to try to convince you that our cause is necessary and just. Like you, I too trust in the wisdom of the Masters. These Mandalorian savages are far too brutish to have ever planned this invasion on their own. Hidden in the shadows, a greater evil pulls their strings. I know this very well," she conceded, her voice soft and conciliatory.

Lux could not help but raise an eyebrow at this. Was she really admitting that the Council had been right all along, that her naïve campaign was really playing right into the hands of the Republic's true enemy? The Sorcha he knew had far too big an ego to admit such a thing.

"There are some among you that would call me a warmonger, a renegade, a Jedi who has turned away from the Code that has guided us since before the dawn of the Republic. I will not lie to you, my friends, not a moment goes by that I do not doubt whether the path my comrades and I have embarked on is the right one. The Code teaches us that 'there is no emotion, there is peace; there is no passion, there is serenity'. Peace and serenity have been foreign to me in these dark days. Like you, I fear that this war is changing the Jedi and not for the better".

Now Lux was officially confused. Was she actually admitting that she had been wrong to drag the Jedi into the war, and that the Council she constantly railed against as a collection of blind, old fools showed wisdom in their caution? This was turning out to be less of a war rally and more of a public confession, and he could sense nothing but sincerity in her words.

"The Code teaches that we must rise above our transitory passions, and live for something more than ourselves. But what is that higher calling, but a passion to serve all those who need us? I have seen terrible things, my friends, atrocities that cannot be exorcised from the mind, tragedies on such a scale that the Force echoes with pain. We all felt the destruction of Serocco when those beasts rained nuclear weapons on a peace-loving world. We all remember Cathar where the fiends murdered a whole race...men, women, even children, none were spared. I felt these massacres, and the agony of all those victims tore me apart, as I know they did to you as well," she choked out, and Lux could feel the tears running down her cheeks. "But a Jedi must restrain their emotions lest they overwhelm us. I fear to say it, but I have failed in this, my friends".

"_Truer words never spoken_," Lux thought but just as quickly chastised himself. Sorcha was nearly breaking down before the crowd, synthesized gasps escaping the barrier of her mask as she tried to bite back sobs. He did not know what she had seen during the war, which by all accounts surpassed the Great Sith War in sadistic violence. She had always worn her emotions on her sleeve despite numerous lectures from her masters, and now it seemed she could no longer control them.

"I held a little girl in my arms as she died," she began again in a strangled voice. "Her home was firebombed and her whole family burned alive. I can still feel the heat in her blackened skin, still hear her cries of pain as her charred flesh sloughing off at the slightest touch. I tried to use the Force to deaden her suffering, but I could not. When I needed the Force the most, I could not call on it, I could not help her when she needed me. I failed. I failed when I could not bear to. Feeling her agony go on and on while I was too weak, too frightened to do anything was more painful to me than the deaths of billions on Serocco and Cathar. My friends, tell me, what should I do?"

She paused for a moment, waiting for those in the crowd to answer the question for themselves. Lux felt conflicted, his distrust for the woman that had plagued him even as a child at the Temple challenged by the woman laying bare her soul to the gathered Jedi. He could tell that others in the audience, even the most skeptical of the antiwar contingent, were moved by the raw feelings she expressed.

"I am not so wise as those on the Council to see beyond such atrocities and consider an even greater evil that may befall us all if we act too rashly. I am not so strong willed as those on the Council who can ignore the tortured cries of the victims of this war in order to serve the greater good. I am not a master; I am simply one Jedi trying desperately to make sure that I never have to hold the broken body of a child in my arms again. I am weak, too weak to honor our Code above the lives of our people. I admit it, and to my horror, I feel no shame because of it," her voice wavered, the crowd waiting in rapt attention.

"I tell you this because I am frightened, frightened that we may lose this war, frightened that more will die pointlessly all for some warped sense of barbarian honor, frightened that I become less of a Jedi every day I fight, but most of all, frightened that when I have the chance to save someone, the Force will desert me once again," she spoke quietly, sounding haggard and defeated. "Fear is poison to a Jedi, but no one could walk onto the battlefield against these monsters and not feel afraid".

Sorcha was making no sense, her speech seeming to undermine her very purpose, but more and more, the sympathy the crowd held for her grew. Even a cynic like Lux was not immune, wondering how these Mandalorians could possibly break the haughty, self-assured Sorcha who never let anyone bring her down.

"I cannot allow these beasts to harm one more of our people. I must win this war even if it means abandoning the peace and serenity we value so dearly. The masters teach us that a Jedi must look beyond herself and serve the needs of others. To sacrifice all our wants and desires so that others may be safe and content, that is what the masters require of us. If I must sacrifice everything I am, even my status of Jedi, to save this Republic I love from the horrors of Mandalorian brutality, I feel that I have no choice but to do so. If you feel though that I am deliberately subverting the will of the Council, know that I struggle with the great loyalty I feel both to our Order and to the Republic, which we serve. Criticize me, ridicule me, call me a glory-seeking, ignorant, prideful traitor, but please, I beg of you, do not let the justified disdain you hold for me blind you to the suffering of the innocent. Help them in any way you can. They are your brothers and sisters, and fighting a war is not the only way to protect them," she beseeched them, falling to her knees to kneel before them.

Revan kept her head bowed as she ended with: "My friends, you honor me by taking the time to listen even though some of you disagree with the stance I have taken. I will not forget what kindness you have shown me, what tolerance. This war may have left us estranged, but our differences are matters of form and not of substance. The ideals we share unite us far more than our disagreements over strategy divide us. I hope that the next time I look upon you, my fellow Jedi and beloved comrades, peace will be restored across the galaxy. May the Force be with you, and may the Force be with our Galactic Republic in its greatest hour of need".

Lux had not expected such a subdued performance, instead anticipating a fiery speech listing the countless atrocities the Mandalorians committed while the cowardly Jedi Council hid away in their fortress temple. He expected a rant extolling the virtues of the renegade Jedi who would gladly forsake their masters, their friends, and even their lives to ensure that the Republic endured while simultaneously attacking those who would even dare question their participation as timid collaborators and craven sellouts. He expected her to try to recruit them, not explain why they should not join her and in fact should openly question whether what she was doing was right. But strangely, he felt like he knew her far better now than after spending years training with her on Coruscant. Was the Council truly correct; was Jedi philosophy and dogma more important than the lives of living beings? Was the potential of a greater threat a legitimate reason to let the Mandalorians sack half the Republic with impunity, while the Jedi, sworn protectors of the Republic, dithered over the ethics of war? Were Master Sunrider alive, would she have chosen a similar path to Revan, throwing herself into the war as she once did against Exar Kun? He could not answer these questions, but by the feelings he sensed from the crowd, there were many who could, some who had come to hear Sorcha speak with a much different perspective, and there was no doubt in their minds that war was the only way.

The gnawing questions did not leave his mind as he walked back to his quarters. Mical had not made dealing with his rising doubts any easier since the masked hero Revan had apparently left quite a positive impression on him. He questioned the masters on the Council not for their stance on the war, but the way their actions had apparently affected Sorcha in such a negative way. To him, they were bullies picking on someone selfless and reasonable, and Lux did not voice his own, somewhat more jaded view of how the boy's hero was really like. Even when he was asked directly, Lux avoided the question, lecturing Mical for having his head in the stars, dreaming of great battles and gallant warriors fighting for justice when he should be focusing on his training. Even though Mical was young and impressionable, Lux could not help but wonder if he had misjudged the mischievous girl who took such pleasure in tormenting him all those years ago. It seemed though, that he would have the chance to reevaluate his opinion.

As the door slid open, Sorcha's storm-gray eyes turned to meet his own. She was seated on his cot, no longer shrouded in gray armor but clad in a simple Jedi tunic. Without her mask, her face was familiar yet subtly different, an almost sickly quality marring her pretty features. She was ghostly pale with dark circles under piercing eyes, sunken cheeks giving her an emaciated look. She had an air about her that was tired and beaten down, and suddenly her emotional speech earlier seemed far more in character. She had lost the bright, impish look that defined her as a child and replaced that part of her with something harder and colder.

"Long time, no see, Lux," she greeted him, the corners of her mouth turning upward in a halfhearted smile.

"You look like you got run over by a bantha," he observed, meaning it more to be a statement of fact than an insult.

Sorcha seemed to take it that way, her smile growing a little warmer. "War isn't a healthy occupation. I was actually looking forward to sleeping in a real bed here at the enclave rather than in a dirt hole on some Force forsaken backwater planet".

"It looks like you could use the rest," he agreed. "So why are you here, Sorcha? Don't you know it's generally not considered polite to break into someone's room?"

He noticed her grimace at the sound of her name, and she quickly corrected him, "I prefer the name Revan if you would be so kind".

"Alright then, _Revan_," he nodded.

"Thank you. As to your question...I wanted to speak to you in private. If you wanted to keep me out, you should have upgraded your security past a level where a half-witted Kowakian monkey lizard could have cracked it," she said snidely, her gray eyes filled with condescension.

"And here I thought you had changed completely. I knew it was too good to be true," he sighed.

"Ah, our shared childhood. Looking back on it now, I treated you rather badly, didn't I?" she mused as Lux nodded vigorously in agreement. "Well you did make it easy. How many kids let themselves get picked on by a little girl a foot shorter and how many years younger?"

"Not that many years, and are you trying to annoy me?" he asked.

"Of course not. It would be foolish to antagonize the person you are going to ask for help," she said with a roll of her eyes before patting the open space on the cot next to her. "Come sit with me".

"I think I'm fine standing," he declined, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I must insist," she said in an authoritative tone.

"Not happening," he repeated.

"Do I have to use force?" she growled in a menacing tone. "I remember a few times you didn't do what I said at the Temple. I distinctly remember it not working out for you so well".

Lux reluctantly took a seat on the cot next to her, wondering how this tiny woman who could probably pass as a ten-year old child could be so intimidating. Perhaps it was those uncanny eyes, cold and gray like durasteel, devoid of any compassion. He knew some of the masters suspected her of dabbling in the dark arts, but to his senses, no corruption had yet taken hold. Her fragile emotional state was a warning sign though, and the Jedi could not afford to have a knight as strong as Sorcha fall into darkness. Exar Kun proved how a single powerful Jedi could plunge the galaxy into war, and it had taken the combined power of the Order to stop him. Imagine if he had half the Republic fleet behind him like she did.

"Comfortable?" she asked sweetly, shifting herself closer to him as he tried to inch away.

"Can't say that I am, actually," he admitted dryly, uncomfortable with his whole situation.

"So as I was saying, I need your help. My meeting with the Council was never meant to accomplish anything. I know what they think of me, and I could not care less about their so-called wisdom, the senile old fools. My real purpose here was to speak to you," she explained, her voice growing bitter and angry at the mention of the Council.

"I wondered how long it would take for the real you to emerge. You almost had me convinced too with all that nonsense about believing in the Council during your speech. What was the point of it all?" he asked with a dark glare.

"You don't convince people of anything by telling them they're wrong. You do it by being sympathetic to them and convincing them that you're right. Identify with their concerns, subvert them, and they'll be yours" she smiled. "A lot of my enemies will be more open to persuasion after today, and if not, at least less likely to actively oppose us".

"That's really low of you, manipulating people like that. Feelings aren't toys to be played around with," Lux spoke reproachfully, angry that she would be so disingenuous especially in front of the younger trainees. "I suppose you made up that story with the little girl".

She snarled at him, whispering fiercely, "Never! I wouldn't need to make up such a horror when the Mandalorians do far worse every minute this war is allowed to continue! The children they do not murder, they enslave, forcing them to become soldiers or die in the process. I can't allow it to continue! No Jedi could!"

"But we can, Revan, that's the problem. Fighting the Mandalorians, even if your cause is just, with your emotions as your sole motivation is against the Code. There is no emotion, there is no passion. If you keep this up, and I'm not saying this will happen for sure, but you could lose yourself. Others have had the best of intentions, but that was no comfort to their victims. You must be careful," he spoke slowly, trying to make her see the danger in her actions.

"You have the nerve to accuse me of falling to the dark side when you sit here completely unconcerned with the atrocities going on around you?" she spat, her eyes flashing with anger.

"I'm sorry, but you do very little to stop us from thinking the worst of you," he continued. "It doesn't help that you're being so fanatical about this war. Do you really think that you and you alone have the power to stop the Mandalorians, that you're some kind of savior or something? I got news for you, sister, the Republic has an army with numbers in the hundreds of billions with enough ships that if you'd crush them all together they'd form a small planet. Even if the Jedi do join, we'd only be one drop in an ocean".

"You're wrong; we have the power to end this war. Without our help, the Republic will crumble. They need us," Revan said with certainty bordering on mad conviction. "No galactic war has ever been won without the Jedi".

"No war against the _Sith_. Mandalorians prefer cruder methods than the Force to destroy".

"They might as well be Sith, they are certainly brutal enough," she argued before adopting a more pensive expression. "You defended the masters of the Council for believing there's something behind the scum. Can't it be enough for you that I believe we need to fight? I truly believe that if we do nothing, this galaxy will be plunged into a greater darkness than any that came before. I can _feel_ it".

"I never doubted your conviction, I question whether your methods are necessary," Lux narrowed his eyes. "Are you going to ask me or not?"

She seemed to waiver, looking away for just a moment, but then she composed herself. "Join me, and together we can end this destructive conflict and bring peace to the galaxy".

It did not help that she reached out her hand and everything like a wannabe Sith Lord, further enhancing the comical nature of her request. He tried to hide the laughter with one hand, but it was hard not to notice as his shoulder shook and his face grew red. He looked up at her and to his surprise saw her smiling as well, hesitantly like she did not know how to react. "I thought after our little tiff...some humor might be called for," she said after a while. "But I'm serious about you coming with us. We could use you".

"I think I've made my position pretty clear already, Revan. I don't trust you, and I don't know if what you're doing is right or not," Lux spoke slowly and carefully. "Atris and Kavar told me they're sure that something is working behind the scenes, and we can't make a move until it is revealed. We need to be patient".

"Force take Atris and Kavar! What does a librarian know of war?" she seethed. "There's no room for patience when people are dying. Action is needed! Will they still be meditating when the Mandalorians have overrun Coruscant?"

"I cannot come with you, Revan. I'm sorry," he shook his head and moved to get up.

He was stopped when her hand grasped his, pulling him down again, "Don't go," she pleaded. "You're not leaving because you agree with the Council; I can feel the doubt in your mind, the conflict. You don't believe in them any more than I do. You know that it's only my forces that are keeping Dantooine safe this far out in the Rim. The Council is blind, and these younglings will pay the price for their arrogance. You know this".

"I know no such thing..." he began only to be cut off.

"Yes you do! I know you have never liked me. You have good reason not to. Please though, do not let your dislike of me cloud your reason. You are strong with the Force, and I know that if you join us, you will make a difference in the battle to come," she insisted.

"Sorcha, I can't..." she said wavering, trying to extricate his wrist from her vice-like grip.

She was not dissuaded by his reluctance, instead placing her other hand on his chest and resting her head on his shoulder. "Please, if not for me, for Mical and Bastila and the others. Protect them. Please," she begged, her voice full of emotion.

Lux struggled with himself, wanting to turn her down but also strangely considering agreeing. He opened his mouth to speak, but he could not form the words, instead taking his free hand and running it through her short hair. She responded by nestling her head closer to his chest, his tunic growing damp from her tears. She looked up at him, her gray eyes wet and puffy, her mouth drawing close to his as she kissed him. He wanted to push her away, but his mind seemed incapable of controlling his actions as he kissed her back, pulling her closer to him.

His rational mind warred with his desire as Sorcha loosened his tunic while still kissing him fiercely. In one last moment of self-control he took both her wrists and managed to pull himself away from her, saying breathlessly, "This is wrong. We shouldn't be doing this".

She looked at him through eyes shrouded by tangled strands of sweaty, disheveled hair, panting softly as a playful smile appeared on her lips. "That's just another thing the masters are wrong about," she said seductively, allowing her body to fall back and pull him down with her. "And this time, I'm confident you will agree". Distracted as he was, Lux did not see her smile curl into a cruel smirk.

"Lux," he heard the voice say coming from far away. The voice repeated his name, sounding closer and more desperate. He could feel a hand on his face, brushing the hair out of his eyes and another at his neck. He wondered if it was Sorcha telling him it was morning. He knew he had scheduled morning exercises with his students, but his eyelids felt heavy and he did not want to open them.

The voice said his name again and he groaned, "Leave me alone, Sorcha. I need to sleep".

As the last word left his lips, a sharp pain in his cheek shocked him back into consciousness. He opened his eyes, seeing a drab gray gauntleted fist hovering over him and a faceless mask not to far behind it. "We don't have time for this, Jedi," Mandalore growled, pulling him roughly to his feet.

He looked around blinking and found himself in the courtyard of the enclave, the stone of the ring far more cracked and worn than in his dream. Just a dream then, buried memories that he wished to stay that way. He looked to the bodies of the Council, feeling something far worse than death in them, but he found himself not caring. "You were right," he mumbled, "always right about everything".

"Exile," Visas said timidly, "are you well?" The Sith Apprentice stood apart from Mandalore and Lux, hesitant to move closer. Lux could feel her concern, but she did not know how to express it properly.

"Could be worse. Better than the Council at least," he grimaced, more from Mandalore's punch than anything else.

"Looks like discussions didn't pan out," Mandalore remarked dryly, observing the remains of the Jedi Masters.

"You don't sound too upset," Lux pointed out.

The warrior just shrugged. "Those Jedi hid away rather than meet us in battle. They became irrelevant a long time ago, so I give a damn either way".

"You have finished the purge my master first undertook. The Council that the Dark Lord Revan rejected is no more," Visas said quietly, saying it more as a question than a statement.

"I would have been justified seeing as how they betrayed me, but it wasn't me who did this. Kreia...I knew she hated the Council, but then what was the point of gathering them here?" he asked no one in particular.

"Because you are like my master...you feed on life, revel in death. The power these Jedi once held will bolster your own. Your master knew this, but...she also knew you would not take it willingly," Visas spoke reluctantly, seeming to whither under his hard gaze.

"They told me that...before they died. Apparently I absorb the Force from those around me like some kind of parasite. The Council didn't exile me because I joined Revan, they did it because they were afraid of what I would do with this power, this wound in the Force inside me. They tried to strip the Force from me, but Kreia killed them all," Lux spoke bitterly. "Force, did I really waste most of my life serving these bastards? I don't know who was more insane, Revan or the Order itself. It's like the galaxy's gone mad".

"They feared you for the same reason they feared Revan. You're stronger than them; they couldn't control you. The Order likes their Jedi meek and obedient. It's no surprise they fell to pieces once Revan made the galaxy see how weak they were. They couldn't even stop Malak without turning to her," Mandalore scoffed.

"And look where it got them. Revan's probably laughing somewhere now that her revenge's finally complete, even if someone else had to do the dirty work. With all the scheming she does, I'm half convinced she's behind this," the Exile growled, confused and angry at Kreia's actions.

"If Revan wanted them dead, she would have killed them herself just as she did with Te Ani'la Mandalor," Mandalore scoffed. "Revan's master always had an agenda; how do you think she got me to come with you? Revan's location of course...and she kept her word surprisingly".

"What? Kreia made a deal...wait, you know where Revan is?" a flustered Lux asked.

"Left me a message before she disappeared. Said she's in trouble. As soon as I can rally the clans, I'm going after her," he resolved.

"When Revan gets into trouble, it's usually of her own making," Lux rolled his eyes. "But she's like a cockroach, practically unkillable. She'll be alright. You said Kreia disappeared though...I'd like to hear more about that and less about Revan".

"We felt such agony in the Force...and then your presence vanished. I feared the worst, but the Handmaiden refused to believe that you had passed on; she went after you," Visas explained.

"Well I don't see her here," the Exile pointed out smartly, regretting the way he said it almost as soon as the words left his mouth. This was not Visas' fault.

"We came for you soon after, but your master and the Handmaiden had long since left. I can still feel the Handmaiden faintly, but her presence is masked in the Force, hidden from view".

Lux allowed the Force to heighten his senses, and he reached out to touch Brianna's mind. He could feel her vaguely, but like Visas said, it was almost like she was shrouded by another, greater power in the Force. He could not reach her, and something told him that this was not unintentional. "She's alive at least," he finally said with more than a little relief. "We need to go after her. I don't think Kreia would harm her, but I don't know what she has planned either. What is the point of all this, just revenge?"

"Well you can go chasing after your woman halfway across the galaxy to who knows where, but I certainly won't," Mandalore said simply.

"That's fine," Lux nodded. "There's only one place she could be headed, and that's where we're going. Give us the coordinates to Revan's location, and we'll meet up with you there. I have a feeling that's what Kreia wants us to do anyway".

"If she seeks my master..." Visas began before Lux cut her off.

"...we'll deal with him if it comes to that. Kreia wanted me to face him in the end, I think. Come on, something tells me we don't have a lot of time".

* * *

"Master Kae!" a high-pitched voice chirped from behind her. She smiled and turned to face the fidgeting girl, readying herself for a tale of why she should not be punished. As usual, Alek trailed behind her, the scowling boy obviously displeased at whatever trouble Sorcha had got him into this time.

The girl tried a different tactic, explaining reasons why she should not be responsible for the fight that had injured two of her fellow younglings, but when the rational approach failed, her attempts quickly degenerated in to a fit of whining. All that complaining was in vain though, as Arren Kae refused to alter the punishment Master Vrook had given her. She needed to learn that actions had consequences, even if polishing the marble floor of the great hall was a little unnecessarily harsh.

She watched as Sorcha slowly marched away acting as if she was going to her execution, and she smiled at the girl's antics. The other masters were far too hard on her, holding her to an impossible standard a child could not hope to live up to. Ever since Exar Kun's fall, the masters of the Council were determined to prevent a Jedi from going down a similar path, but most of their efforts seemed to involve turning their charges into emotionless drones. It was normal for a child to be mischievous, to lie, and to get into fights. It was part of growing up, becoming more mature, not a sign that she would one day become a new dark lord.

She had no doubt that Sorcha would become stronger than the greatest Jedi of their time, and when the time came, she would take the girl as her apprentice. She had so much potential, and she did not want it wasted because a bunch of senile, old fools could not turn their gaze from the past. The Jedi Master grimaced at the last thought, knowing that such thoughts were born of pride and ignorance, qualities that a Jedi should not cultivate.

"Master Kae," a friendly voice spoke from behind her. She turned to see Kavar, but her smile faltered when she saw his apprentice Atris in tow behind him. She disliked that girl, always maneuvering for more influence and trying to ingratiate herself with those who would speed her elevation to master. "Having problems with young Sorcha again?"

"It seems she was involved in another scuffle with a pair of her fellow students. Master Vrook has already seen fit to hand out punishment," she explained, turning to face the Jedi Knight. There was another man with him she did not recognize, his eyes like molten silver and on his head a bed of snow. He gave her an appraising look, almost like he was sizing her up for a fight, and she returned his gaze without blinking.

"Yes, that girl always seems to be making trouble, especially when young Lux Vulnus is around," he sighed. "You would think that two of our best students might try to follow the Code and stop with these childish antics".

"They _are_ children, Kavar. I find it more troubling that the other masters are so concerned with these petty squabbles personally. If they have a little rivalry, that's fine as long as they don't take it too far".

"You dote on that girl, and she believes that with your indulgence she can get away with anything," Atris said in a patronizing tone. "Perhaps if you disciplined her on occasion..."

"Forgive me, but I believe she just came to me for my so-called indulgence and went away disappointed," Kae spoke with acid in her words. "Perhaps when you take an apprentice, Atris, you will know better than to presume to judge how I train my own".

"I am wise enough to know that I am not ready for such a great responsibility," she shot back egotistically.

"Then we must thank the Force for your one moment of clarity," the Jedi Master spoke airily as Atris bristled.

"I am so pleased to see the vaunted wisdom and clarity of the Jedi Order," the man beside Kavar spoke wryly with more than a little disapproval. "Some of my colleagues in the Senate have noted that the Jedi act more like bickering children than the storied guardians of the Republic, but now I see how mistaken they were in such baseless opinions".

Kavar grimaced, motioning to the stern man and saying, "My apologies, Senator. The masters believe a more informal environment nurtures camaraderie and the free exchange of ideas. It seems in my pleasure at seeing an old friend I also neglected to introduce you. Senator, this is Arren Kae, Jedi Knight and Keeper of the Archives. Kae, this is Senator Yusanis of the Echani".

"It is an honor, Senator," Kae inclined her head respectfully.

"No, the honor is mine, Master Jedi," he bowed back.

"The Senator has a meeting with Master Sunrider and the Council soon, but I'm afraid I've already delayed my transport to Dantooine for too long. I apologize, Senator, but would you agree to have Arren escort you to the Council chambers?" Kavar asked apologetically.

"Please, do not delay on my behalf," Yusanis waved him away. "Even without an escort, I doubt I would lose my way".

"Then I will be off. Come Atris, there is much to be done. Farewell, Arren, Senator".

Arren Kae watched them for a moment and then turned to the harsh visage of the Echani Senator. "Come, Senator, I will show you the Council chambers". He merely stared at her with those piercing eyes and nodded imperceptively in response.

After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence throughout which they walked slowly through the grand halls of the temple, he finally spoke, "So you intend to take that girl as an apprentice when she comes of age?"

"Yes," she responded quickly. "Sorcha will one day become a Jedi to rival the greatest in history, and I hope to guide her along this path. Of course, she will not be the only one I train. Sorcha and her friend Alek are inseparable, and he also has great talent. There is another boy, Lux, who is quite strong with the Force, but I think Kavar wishes to conduct his training after Atris has her trials".

"I had hoped for my daughters to receive training in the Jedi arts when they are old enough. The ancient Echani style of fighting will grow stagnant if not supplemented by the knowledge of other warriors," Yusanis spoke, his eyes still staring straight ahead.

"Jedi are not warriors, but defenders. We use our power to protect others, never to attack," Kae explained.

Yusanis scoffed, waving his hand in a dismissive gesture. "All martial arts are designed to incapacitate the enemy, and whether a style is primarily defensive or offensive makes no difference. A lightsaber is a weapon ill suited for a pacifistic worldview, would you not agree?"

"We kill, but only as a last resort. To be forced to slay another being in battle is not a victory, but a failure," she insisted.

"It is those who die at your hand who have failed, not you. They are weak and deserve their lot. The strong should not limit themselves to cater to the unworthy," he said simply.

"An interesting philosophy, but one incompatible with Jedi teachings. Why do you wish your daughters to learn from us then?" she asked curiously, looking at the man whose features seemed carved from stone.

"I believe we can learn much from those we disagree with. Those who do not change when confronted with different ideas, those who rigidly adhere to an incomplete view of the galaxy, are those who will fail when faced with those who have," Yusanis stated coldly.

They arrived before the Council chamber, and Arren Kae turned to face him. "You have great wisdom, Senator. I can see why your people chose you to lead them. Perhaps we can discuss this further sometime, and we can learn from each other".

"I look forward to it," he said gruffly, but she thought she saw a hint of a smile in his hard expression. "Master Jedi, I wish you well".

"May the Force be with you," she bowed, her eyes following him as he disappeared behind the stone doors.

* * *

"This is all a dream...just a nightmare I will wake up from. This is not real; it cannot be true," Yusanis' youngest daughter called out in despair.

Both she and Kreia looked upon the withered face of Atris, once Keeper of the Archives, once a Jedi Master, once a member of the Jedi Council, now a wasted corpse. The other Handmaidens had attempted to preserve her dignity, but a spotless robe and casket full of snow-white flowers could not hide the mummified skin that hung off her bones or the taint of the dark side that clung to her like stink on a bantha. Death suited her, at least in Kreia's opinion. She was more useful this way.

"What happened?" the Handmaiden choked out, tears running down her cheeks.

"A Sith came and caught us unawares. The mistress engaged the fiend in a duel, but the Sith was too strong and she was overcome," one of her sisters answered in a dead tone of voice. "The mistress fought valiantly, and we failed her utterly. She told us the forces of darkness would seek out the last of the Jedi, and yet we were useless when the phantom menace revealed itself".

"As were you!" another of her sisters spoke, voice filled with contempt and anger. "You swore an oath to protect the mistress, but you abandoned it to run off with your fallen Jedi rebel. Just like your whore of a mother..."

"Enough! This is our failing, not hers. The Force has chosen a different destiny for our youngest sister. Even father said so," still another snapped at the last.

"No, I will not be silent! Our mother was disgraced at her birth, and now this bastard child returns to disgrace her children!" the former spat, silver eyes filled with hate.

"Your hands..." Brianna whispered in horror.

"Yes, you see," he sister spoke, holding up bandaged stumps, her face hot with fever. "I kept my word, fighting against the Sith while you shirked your own duty. These wounds are proof of my honor, of which you have none!"

"I am so sorry...so sorry," Brianna cringed, and Kreia could feel her shame and horror. "I should never have gone. This was a mistake, a terrible mistake. I cannot even ask you for your forgiveness. I know I deserve nothing but your contempt. I do not deserve to call you all my sisters".

"Be silent. Our sister has lost much and speaks out of turn. While you have much to feel shame for...this is solely our failing," another spoke.

"What of this Sith? Who was the assassin, do you know?" Brianna asked.

"A Sephi with fiery hair and eyes of a demon, yellow and reptilian. We know nothing more of her. Who is this one you brought with you?" her eldest sister asked.

Brianna's expression instantly transformed from one of regret to malice as she looked to Kreia, cursing herself inwardly for not following her instincts and ending the threat Kallian obviously represented. To Kreia, her expression was like looking into a mirror from days long past. "This...murderer slew Lux Vulnus and the remaining Jedi Councilors on Dantooine after posing as our ally. I intended to have Mistress Atris judge her for her crimes," she spoke venomously.

"You've brought another viper into our midst?" her eldest sister said incredulously. "Are you truly so foolish?"

She came willingly..." Brianna stammered.

"Obviously to strike the final blow against the last of the Jedi," she scowled. "If only it were not too late. In the mistress' absence, I will render judgment. For the crimes of murder, I will see you executed".

"Yusanis was a fool, and it seems all of his daughters unfortunately follow in his wake," Kreia smiled, her face filled with almost a nostalgic quality.

Brianna could not help but be captivated by her expression, wondering what thoughts lay behind it, even as lightning erupted from her fingertips and consumed her sisters in a blaze of crackling death. "Such a waste. I always did wonder what he ever saw in that woman. Presumably not very much," she mused even as smoke rose from the corpses of Brianna's sisters.

Kreia had little time to reminisce as an inhuman scream shook the columned chamber, the snap hiss of a lightsaber quickly following as Brianna barreled toward her, face contorted in a twisted mask of fury. The scowling old woman simply held out a hand and stopped the blazing saber only inches from her palm as the Handmaiden tried stubbornly to break through the invisible barrier. "Such anger," she laughed cruelly. "I would have thought that Lux taught you the perils of unrestrained emotions. How could one as easily provoked as you ever hope to become a Jedi?"

Kreia blasted her away with a Force push, shattering the rock wall behind from the tremendous pressure, but even as Brianna was pinned to a column, the Sith Lord only increased the power behind her attack, splintering the column apart. "You were never meant to follow in your mother's footsteps, hopeless fool that she was. Do you think she left you with the Echani, so that you could become another slave of that hateful Order? What a disappointment you are," she stated coldly, allowing the nearly unconscious woman to drop to the ground before turning away. "The Force was not for you to wield".

With those last words, she began to walk away, but Brianna was not so easily overpowered. "Don't you dare...don't you dare run away, you bitch," she struggled to say through a bout of hacking coughs. "I may not deserve to be Jedi, but as long the Force grants me enough power to kill you...fine". She stood up, a dribble of blood running from the corner of her mouth set in a defiant sneer.

Another blast of the force hurtled toward Brianna, ripping apart the tiled floor as it tracked her, but she managed to dodge it, the impact leaving a spider web of cracks in the polished rock wall. Kreia did not even look at her as more waves of Force energy ripped through the air, chasing the Handmaiden throughout the now ruined chamber and forcing her into an acrobatic dance as she methodically moved closer to her target. Finally moving within range, she lunged with her lightsaber outstretched like a spear only to have it lazily pushed aside by a red blade seemingly appearing out of nowhere in Kreia's hand.

"Perhaps you have heard too many old tales of warriors facing a far superior opponent calling upon a will stronger than any power in the galaxy to defeat them. Believe me, girl, those stories are just that," the revealed Darth Traya whispered, her black eyes pitiless and cruel. "Stories...for only the weak to believe".

She slashed her red lightsaber at the Echani warrior, but she ducked under it, spinning her saberstaff in both hands and bringing it crashing down onto her opponent's waiting blade. She struck blow after blow, but Traya's blade seemed possessed with a life of its own, twisting around her body and blocking every attack with ease. Brianna was breathing heavily by the end of her furious assault, but the expressionless Sith Lord was apparently unaffected, standing there like she was carved out of granite. She was an old and frail woman fighting with only one hand, and the advantage should lie with her, or at least so Brianna thought.

Raising her saber high above her head, the Echani brought her screaming blade down in one final, brutal strike, determined to break through her enemy's guard with all of her strength. Lightsabers clashed, sparking and crackling in the silence of Atris's fortress, and for a moment, Brianna though she had won, her attack pushing Traya's saber back so close to her face that her skin was scorched. It was not to be though, as the Force radiated through the blank-faced Sith Lord, allowing her to throw her back onto the cold ground. "Pathetic," she said in a tone more disappointed than mocking. "Even if Lux had little time to train you, I would have thought a warrior trained in the ways of the Echani would prove a far greater challenge. It seems I overestimated your worth despite what low esteem I previously held you in".

"Hold your wicked tongue, monster," Brianna spat, the rage within her building to an uncontrolled inferno. "The words of the Sith are worthless like the ravings of the insane. Your insults cannot hurt me".

Traya laughed, her wicked cackle unlike any sound a human would utter. "I do not require taunts to hurt you, girl...ending the pathetic lives of your loved ones more than suffices".

Brianna snarled in fury, her mind filled with thoughts of murder as darkness encroached on her very being. "_I cannot lose...not to her!_" she thought, the words repeated like a mantra. "_Revenge for Mistress Atris. Revenge for Lux. Vengeance for my sisters! Give me power! Power to destroy her!_"

Silver turned to gold as Brianna howled like a mindless beast, energy surging around her in a maelstrom of dark side energy. She allowed the lightning to run through her arms, fingers curved like grasping claws as the Force storm exploded from her palms, surrounding Traya with a flashing corona of electricity. Her wailing scream continued unending as bolts continued to erupt from her hands, blackening the flesh up to her wrists as her clothes ignited from the uncontrolled tempest. She felt no pain though, only a single all-consuming desire to annihilate the hateful woman before her.

"Enough of this charade," Traya spoke calmly, her voice lost among the crackling electricity. With a wave of her hand she dispelled the lightning, closing her fingers into a fist and abruptly cutting off the Handmaiden's screams. She lifted her off the ground as Brianna clawed at the invisible fingers around her neck. The struggle went on for several long minutes, but inevitably Brianna's thrashing grew more sluggish and her fearful eyes rolled back in her head. Darth Traya held her suspended for another moment before unceremoniously dropping her, allowing the woman to crumple on the ground like a broken doll.

She turned to stride away but hesitated, her gaze returning to the broken form of her daughter. "The Force is a curse. It destroyed our family, brought your father low, forced me into exile, left you in the care of a monomaniac obsessed with rooting out the darkness in everyone but herself. When you find wisdom, you will see how this was necessary," she whispered softly before leaving Brianna to her fevered dreams.

* * *

Stars stretched back into view as the ship dropped out of hyperspace, and Kallian could not help but take an involuntary step forward. She knew the sensation of decelerating was just an illusion, hyperspace travel occurring in an alternate dimension rather than simply being a burst of incredible speed, but even so, she still felt like her body was falling forward every time. She had gotten used to it, but it still did not suit her very well.

"Engaging sublight drive," the helmsman announced to the bridge. "Hyperspace coordinates were a bit off. Laying in course to...third planet. Distance...thirty-two million kilometers and closing. Should only take a few minutes".

Kallian felt her anticipation rising, waiting for that nondescript planet to fill the view screen. She was not exactly eager to return, and truth be told, she would not be broken up about it if she never saw that world again despite those she had left behind. It was selfish, she knew, but there was nothing for her there, only regret and heartbreak. She would lay the groundwork for eventual admission into the Republic, and after that she could consider whatever duty she owed to her former home duly paid in full. Her restlessness came more from what she knew awaited her there, a broken relationship and an omnicidal Sith.

"I can already feel it, the darkness of your world," Bastila said quietly. "I have felt similar damage elsewhere, Malak's work on Telos and Taris, the Sith worlds of Korriban and Ziost, all scarred by the dark side. I wonder what happened here".

"Who knows? There are only legends about how the blight began, and they're all some bullshit about the Maker's judgment and the fall of man," Kallian answered.

"Legends are versions of the truth altered by the ages. It could be that your people simply have forgotten, or perhaps it is metaphor," she mused.

"It was probably the Sith. It seems like they're responsible for everything, and I'll bet this was their doing," she growled, imagining the sick experiments they conducted to create the monstrous darkspawn.

"More than likely you are correct," Bastila agreed solemnly. "After the Great Hyperspace War, the remnants of the Sith Empire fled into unknown space. Perhaps they settled here for a time, hiding from Republic hunters".

"It's ancient history anyway," Kallian grumbled. "I'm more interested in if it can be fixed".

"The stain of the dark side can never be truly washed away. It corrupts whatever it touches...forever. We who have felt its touch must simply guard against its encroachment, remaining ever vigilant against temptation," she advised, her voice sounding sad in a way. "You are anxious...do you not wish to return here?"

Kallian looked at the Jedi Knight, startled that she could read her emotions behind the shields she constantly kept in place. She supposed the woman was more experienced and better trained given that she had the respect of Revan. "My cousins Shianni and Soris are really the only reasons to come back here, and they have their own lives without me getting in the way," she said quietly. "I hate this place. The whole planet is a disgusting shithole. You want to know something funny, I asked you to protect my people, but I don't really care about them. I want to do the right thing, but to be honest, if I could save only a few people and get them out of here, I wouldn't care if the Sith destroyed this place. Isn't that horrible?"

Kallian gave Bastila a sad smile, but Revan's companion did not seem particularly repulsed at her admission or even surprised. "You have experienced much pain here; it is not surprising that you would hold bitterness in your heart. It is good that you recognize it in yourself, but now you must let it go. If you must, leave this world behind you. A Jedi must always be mindful of the present, careful never to fall too far into the past or the future".

"Revan said the Jedi disapprove of attachment. Do you want me to cut myself off from everyone I love and leave them behind? Should I just forget about them?" she asked, and Bastila could feel that she was not questioning in an accusatory, angry way but quite seriously. She was actually considering it.

"The Jedi believe attachment inevitably leads to strong emotions, and from such passion darkness can surely take hold. A master would tell you to let go, to realize that the people you care for will one day leave you, and you cannot change this. When I say it though, I mean that despite your great strength, you are but one person, and you do not have the power to change everything to conform to your desires. Believing the opposite is arrogance, and the proud are often disappointed, as I have come to learn unfortunately. So, all we can hope for is to have the strength to change the things we can change and the wisdom to know when we cannot," Bastila said quietly.

"I have to tie off the loose ends here, and then I think...then I can do what you've said," Kallian responded slowly, her eyes moving the growing image of her planet in the viewscreen. "I'm going to head to the hanger. I'll see you there".

Bastila nodded as Kallian turned her back. As she was walking away, Bastila called after her, "Being a Jedi does not mean being perfect, Kallian. You set a better example than most".

Kallian wanted to shout back that she was not a Jedi, but she could not bring herself to say it. Even if she was not a Jedi in the formal sense, she wanted to be. If Atton, Mira, Lux, and even that bitchy Echani would be with her, she supposed such a life would not be so terrible. She wondered what Revan would say, probably nothing good.

She had badgered Bastila to have the ship descend to the surface, but the Jedi Knight had scoffed and refused, saying that the half-kilometer long interdictor was not designed for atmospheric reentry and even if it was, it might cause a panic on such a primitive world. So instead one party would descend in a stealth transport, slipping in under cover of darkness so no one on the surface would think anything was out of the ordinary. When Kallian pointed out that she wanted everyone to know that the Republic existed, especially the leaders of the various nations of Thedas, Bastila had waived her concerns away, favoring a less flashy approach as she put it. Convincing the people of her world, at least in Bastila's opinion, that there was life among the stars would be far more delicate that pumping out a few shots from a blaster and showing off their ships.

She could see the logic, but she wondered how they were ever going to convince the people of Thedas that there was a much larger world outside the tiny rock they called home and more importantly, get them to cooperate. It would not matter if the Sith consumed all life on the planet though, so it was pointless to worry about the future when the future might very well not happen.

She frowned when she saw their transport, the garish paintjob par for the course when compared with the rest of the gunships it was lined up with. It was a little unnerving, the way it smiled at her with a fanged mouth dripping with wrong-colored blood. Bloodshot eyes with slit pupils completed the gunship's face, creating the illusion that the machine was actually alive. On the side was a rather provocative depiction of a Twi'lek dancer holding a banner bearing strange letters she could not read, but even if it was written in the common tongue she would be at a loss to decipher it. Most likely it was the gunship's name.

"Admiring my baby?" a gruff voice spoke from behind. "She's a real beauty, ain't she?"

"I suppose," she answered half-heartedly, turning to see a large Twi'lek grinning down at her, though with his pointed teeth, his smile was a little disconcerting. "You're our pilot?"

"Got that right, sister. Always a treat helping out the Jedi," he gave her a little salute, before pulling the visor of his helmet down and jumping in the cockpit.

"Yeah, we're all for helping the Jedi," one of the soldiers spoke up warily, the curved horns sticking out of her spiky hair identifying her as a Zabrak, "but not one of them".

Kallian looked to see where she was gesturing and saw Mira focused on her new lightsaber, but it was obvious that she heard when she stiffened. She had known this would be a problem as soon as Mira stepped on the ship, as her vibrant green armor emblazoned with jagged purple lightning was obviously Mandalorian in origin, which immediately designated her as an enemy. Like her, Mira now wore a rough spun Jedi Cloak tied around her waist, but these soldiers who still remembered the comrades lost to Mira's people during the war could not see beyond that armor. "Mira is a Jedi, like me. She was just a kid during the war; she had nothing to do with what happened there," Kallian insisted.

"With all due respect, ma'am, those Mandalorians are all the same. I don't think I can trust my back to one of them," the soldier admitted, still glaring at the Mandalorian woman. Some of the other soldiers murmured in agreement.

"Well you're just going to have to get over it and follow orders," a familiar, sarcastic voice spoke from behind as a hand came down on her shoulder. Atton was there, looking none too pleased at the situation. "I fought against the bastards too, and I'm not bitching up a storm about it. She's a Jedi, end of story".

"Yes, sir," she answered immediately though Kallian could tell the suspicion remained.

"Where the hell did you come from anyway?" Kallian asked him.

"Around. Being on one of these things again makes me antsy. Never thought I'd be back with the Republic," he sighed, scratching his head in a nervous way. "You ready to go back home?"

"It's not my home anymore. I'm going to make myself a new home, this time with the Jedi. You're welcome to join me, of course, or you can do your own thing".

"What and let you get yourself killed the first chance you get? Not happening, sister. You're stuck with me," Atton said forcefully.

"How delightful for you both," Mira deadpanned, sneaking up behind them. "Maybe I'll join you if I'm not murdered aboard this ship".

"Take that armor off, and they'll leave you alone," Atton suggested, casting an annoyed look at Mira.

"You must be dumber than you look. See this?" she asked, pointing a blackened line running along her chest plate. "If I wasn't wearing this, I'd have left half of me behind on Korriban. You want me to wear that Republic osik that she's got on?"

Kallian looked down to her own armor, the glaring white plates bearing the sigil of the Republic in blood red. Without her short-sleeved cloak thrown over her shoulders and tied at the waist, she could have passed as any one of the soldiers milling about. "What's wrong with this armor?"

"Nothing except the fact that you'd be better off running into battle naked. At least then you wouldn't have to deal with the weight. That plasteel garbage the Republic calls armor probably killed more people in the war than all of the Mandalorian clans combined," Mira scoffed.

"Lot of good that Mandalorian superiority did you when your entire fleet was smashed into Malachor. I don't think I've ever seen anything so beautiful," he said with a savage grin before catching Kallian's eye. "Well...almost anything".

"Excuse me, Master Jedi...Jedis? Is that even a word?" one of the soldiers mumbled. "Some of my boys are getting antsy about this mission. Command says its just peacekeeping, but scuttlebutt's been quiet, and that usually ain't a good sign. Anything you can tell us?"

Kallian looked over to the group of commandos hanging out by the gunship, the frowning Zabrak among them. The soldier addressing them was an older human, his close-cropped gray hair interrupted by several nasty looking scars running up one side of his face with one eye obviously cybernetic. He must have seen her staring as he said, "Got these raiding a Mandalorian dreadnaught. Didn't even see the sneaky bastard before he got me. Squad managed to pull me out before we wrecked it though. Close call, that".

"Oh...well I got my arm cut off by a Sith Lord once," she said awkwardly in an attempt to not make him feel uncomfortable, holding up her prosthetic limb even though it was encased in armor.

"It's not a competition," Atton quipped.

"Right. You're right, Atton," she said weakly in response. "Well, we actually have several objectives on the planet, but I don't know if I'm supposed to say anything".

She looked to Atton for support but he just rolled his eyes and scowled, "Who cares? They'll find out anyway".

"Fine. We're here to do three things: rescue Revan, kill a Sith Lord, and get this planet to join the Republic. Easy," Kallian said.

"Oh, is that all?" one of the commandos called out.

"Rescue Revan? We should be arresting her, so she can stand trial for treason!" another said.

"So I guess _treason_ means saving the Republic now, huh?" a soldier with cat-like features spoke condescendingly.

"The crimes that Revan may or may not have committed during the Jedi Civil War are not our concern," Bastila's voice cut through the bickering. "There is a chance that Revan's presence on this world will attract the remnants of the Sith, and we hope to end the threat here and now. And as for you, I hoped you would refrain from disclosing the exact nature of our mission here. It was unnecessary".

Kallian just shrugged in response. "Sorry," she said without any real regret.

"As you have probably heard in your briefings, this planet is technologically primitive and is home to several distinct species including humans, which exercise political control at least over the area where Revan is presumably located. We will attempt to make contact with the leaders of this particular area, but we must do so in a nonthreatening, respectful manner. Do not demonstrate the use of any technology the people of this world would not be familiar with unless absolutely necessary. We will maintain a low profile until we can safely operate in the open. Understood?"

"Of course, Master Jedi, but what about the rules of engagement if we encounter hostiles?"

Bastila hesitated and looked to Kallian for clarification. "Most weaponry used probably won't be a threat; it's mostly just swords and bows and the like. Magic will be more of a problem though. Well maybe not, any mage we meet will probably be under templar control, and they won't let them use any flashy attacks without permission," the elven woman explained.

"And by magic you mean?" the soldier asked.

"Energy attacks with electricity and fire, illusions, abilities affecting the mind...stuff like that. Just consider anyone who uses it like a Jedi I suppose and act accordingly," she shrugged.

"I would prefer if we engage in a nonviolent means of solving any potential conflicts we might encounter. If negotiations fail, your response should be nonlethal with blasters set to stun. Lethal measures should be an absolute last resort," Bastila concluded.

"Objection: The permanent termination of enemy meatbags remains the only sound method of ending potential hostilities. In the alternative, aggressive negotiations employing coercive tactics may be used but are generally inadvisable," HK-47 said in his usual methodical way, somehow appearing at Kallian's side like he had been there the whole time.

Bastila narrowed her eyes at the droid, an expression of distaste evident in the way she looked at him. "What is inadvisable is taking that psychotic droid with us. It should stay here where it's not at risk of any...untoward behavior to our hosts".

"Why are you looking at me? I don't have any control over him," Kallian threw up her hands in defense.

"Threat: My master is alleged to be present on this planet. Any attempted interference with our reunion will be met with all necessary force including, but not limited to, dismemberment, vaporization, strangulation, incineration, and, or verbal rebuke," HK said seriously.

Some of the soldiers chuckled at the droid's pronouncement, but when Bastila did not even smile, it died off quickly. "If you must come, at least promise not to kill anyone," she sighed.

"Statement: I will take your request under consideration," HK said blankly, not reassuring anyone.

"See? Everything's fine. HK knows not to make a scene. He can always just fantasize about murder while we're down there," Kallian smiled brightly, but Bastila just shook her head.

They climbed aboard the gunship as the giant bay doors opened with the sound of straining hydraulic pistons, revealing several hammerheads and smaller corvettes flanking the massive interdictor. Their transport rose from the hangar slowly as its armored sides locked into position and pressurized. The inside of the craft went dark, lit only by a faint red light as the transport left the hangar bay and descended toward the planet.

Atmospheric reentry was a trial especially since Kallian was not strapped into a seat, instead forced to hang onto the webbing lining the ceiling, her knuckles turning white as the stresses of the flight buffeted their ship. The gunship rocked and vibrated as whining engines struggled to fight against gravity, the friction of the falling craft against the atmosphere heating the inside like a sauna. As a particularly heavy bout of turbulence threw her off balance, she felt a hand steady her and looked back to see a smirking Atton.

"These things weren't designed for comfort, sister. Don't worry though, I got you," he yelled over the screaming engines.

So you won't mind if I throw up all over you?" she yelled back in a quivering voice, her stomach becoming queasier by the second.

"If you do, you better be prepared to replace this jacket. It wasn't cheap either," he grinned, still holding her steady.

"Hey, this is a serious mission! I know it's hard for you two, but no flirting," Mira lectured with a smirk as several others looked on with amused expressions.

Before Kallian could retort, the pilot's voice came over the static-filled com. "We're leveling off. I'm opening the side panels, so try not to fall out. If you do, I'm not going back for you".

She heard the locks on the side panels disengage and the doors folded back with a hydraulic hiss, the screaming wind cutting against her face as she gripped the webbing even tighter. The soldiers seemed unconcerned, even acting suicidal, at least in Kallian's opinion, by sitting on the edge of the cabin floor. "Are they crazy? What if they fall?" she asked Atton, clinging to him tightly and staying as close to the middle of the cabin as possible.

He looked out the open doors as ocean spray leapt through the air, the gunship now cruising just above the water. "We're only a few feet above the surface, and you'd have to be clumsy as hell to fall off," he rolled his eyes.

"Disengaging main engines. Switching to full repulsorlift. Lights out in five, don't get spooked," the pilot spoke again.

The gunship began its silent run, the howling engines reduced to a gentle thrum, the dark of night no longer kept at bay by the craft's lighting. Stealth was the goal apparently, but if anyone actually caught a glimpse of the transport, Kallian thought, anyone they told would just think them raving mad. They continued to glide over the rolling waves for some time, Bastila guiding the pilot toward the woman she shared a bond with until the voice of the pilot once again came over the com: "Signs of a settlement ahead. I can already see the light on the horizon. Must be pretty big. Orders?"

"Approach slowly and look for a suitable landing site away from the settlement. Revan is very near. I can feel it," Bastila said, her eyes closed as she reached out with the Force.

Kallian could see far-off lights now, probably the lanterns of ships coming into port, and as the gunship slowly banked to the side, great, black cliffs illuminated by the blazing fires of lighthouses met her gaze. Above the cliffs, the glow of city lights peaked out from thick air suffused with fog, but she could make out little more from this distance.

They landed along a craggy beach, the roar of the ocean masking any sound the repulsorlift engines made as they descended. The pilot would not be sticking around, but he assured them that he could extract the party in only a few minutes if need be. Kallian could only hope nothing would happen that would require such a fast rescue.

It was morning by the time they made it to the city perched on the high cliffs, blinding white towers rising high above them as they made their way to the walled-off port, traders and sailors bustling around and ignoring the now-cloaked visitors.

"Do you know the name of this city?" Bastila asked Kallian as she took in the sights and sounds of the docks.

"They're speaking the common tongue, and all those giant, creepy statues remind me of stories they used to tell about the city of chains. This is Kirkwall I think, the former slave capital of Thedas," she answered.

"It seems wherever we go we are never rid of the vile practice," Bastila spat. "The Republic has never done enough to stamp it out".

"It's supposed to be illegal here, but it doesn't stop anyone," Kallian spoke harshly. "Laws are no shield when there's coin to be had".

They came to a gate where several armored guards with narrow visors checked those wishing to enter the city. While concerned about contraband, they were much more dedicated to rooting out another kind of evil. "Templars," Kallian hissed. "They're the mage hunters I told you about. We should avoid them if we can".

"Suggestion: Why achieve through stealth what can easily be achieved through far simpler means? Eliminating these meatbags will allow you to enter the city unmolested and for I, an opportunity to perform my primary function. A mutually beneficial arrangement you could say," the murderous droid said hopefully.

"As much as I would like to see you torn apart by a terrified mob, I have a better idea," Bastila spoke dryly, focusing her power on the templars.

They walked through the gate without incident, the bewildered guards now confronted by several furious traders who demanded to know why others were getting special treatment. "Simple," Bastila noted, seemingly quite pleased with herself.

Kallian was less impressed. "Might want to keep the mind tricks to a minimum. They might mistake you for a blood mage, and I'd rather not have to deal with a horde of religious fanatics trying to kill you".

Bastila was unmoved by the warning, simply stating: "Mobs are easily swayed".

The pathway from the docks took them to a bustling area, market stalls set up haphazardly along the cracked, stained walls of closely packed buildings. Whoever planned the this section of the city was either mad or drunk at the time as shapeless structures were placed with no discernable pattern, some dilapidated houses and shops placed into the middle of pathways. The streets, narrow and winding to begin with, were made even more claustrophobic by the mass of humanity slowly crawling through the labyrinthine alleys. Most of the buildings were stone, at least for the first few stories, but as they grew higher, shacks of rotting wood and faded cloth were stacked on each other, creating crooked towers that seemed likely to collapse at the first strong wind. In short, they seemed to be moving through the slums, an unpleasant experience to say the least.

"Lots of humans, don't see any of your people," Atton commented, his head shifting from left to right as he surveyed their surroundings.

"Humans don't let elves live among them. Any elf that tried would probably find their house burned down and a noose around their neck. They'll be in the alienage, separate from the rest of the city," Kallian spat, old grievances rising to the surface.

"If so, this planet is rather like another unpleasant world, Taris. Nonhumans were segregated in the lower city filled with all manner of scum and villainy," Bastila commented, a permanent look of distaste written on her features as she raked her gaze over the members of the crowd. The smell of accumulated garbage, waste, and the unwashed masses probably was not helping.

"Kriffing humans. Bastards, all of them," Atton joked.

"You're welcome to join me when I put my plans for revenge in motion. We'll show those assholes how weak they truly are," she continued in a sinister tone, shooting Atton a malevolent grin.

"Well just so you don't forget who your friends are. I'd hate to be a victim of some insane, dark side fueled rampage," he shot back at her.

"Scared, Atton? Don't worry, I don't consider you human anyway. Humans actually have some semblance of intelligence, which you sadly...lack," she smirked.

"If you are finished bickering..." Bastila snapped in a disapproving tone, "perhaps you would be so kind as to focus on locating Revan".

"You're the one with the Force bond," Kallian pointed out.

"Focusing on a single individual, despite the connection we share, is rather difficult among so many. Their thoughts and feelings are difficult to sift through".

"She can probably sense we're here; she should find us," Kallian grumbled as they came to a worn stairway, a great tree visible behind a row of half-collapsed buildings. A few drunken elves eyeing them suspiciously only confirmed their location. "We've found the alienage it seems".

"Seems like a swell place to live...luxury tenements, a great view of nature, decorative rotting corpses, oh wait, is that an open sewer there? Nar Shaddaa better watch out, this place will give it a run for its credits," Atton observed sarcastically.

"Hey, don't insult Nar Shaddaa like that! They've worked hard to maintain their reputation as the ass end of the galaxy. This place can hardly compare," Mira spoke in mock indignation.

"Observation: Considering the wretched condition of these meatbags, I have concluded it would be merciful to terminate them. Query: May I proceed?" HK spoke in his typical condescending monotone.

"We are not killing anyone you insane droid!" Bastila snapped. "I knew we should have left it behind. What a nightmare".

"Statement: I go where I please, meatbag. I would be negligent to leave my master's rescue to small-minded organics".

"HK, I think you'd enjoy the mercy killings a little too much. Actually, I don't think you're supposed to enjoy mercy killing at all," Kallian pointed out.

"Rebuttal: It is not possible for my behavior core to experience pleasure beyond the parameters of my programming involving the successful elimination of an organic meatbag. I would enjoy it to a comparable level of any other assassination".

As Kallian simply gave the psychotic droid a blank stare, a gangly set of arms and legs attached to a rail-thin elf slammed into her. She staggered a little, fuming at the thought of being assaulted by a particularly clumsy cutpurse, but the elf made no move to run for it. Instead she sat on the ground, grimacing as she rubbed a brush burn on her elbow. The girl looked up at her with big, apologetic eyes and said, "Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't see you there!"

"Then why don't you watch where you're kriffing going?" she growled, glaring down at the wincing girl.

The elven girl did not respond, only giving her a look of confusion in return. Misinterpreting the odd look the girl was giving her, Kallian realized with a start that she was still using Basic; of course the girl was at loss to understand. As she glared down at her, the elaborate tattoos and rustic clothing made her look out-of-place in the alienage because she was almost certainly one of _those_ arrogant snobs. "Wh...what is one of the Dalish doing here in the alienage?" she spoke in the common tongue after some difficulty. Her old language felt strange to say, almost like she had forgotten how to form the words. "Were you kicked out or something?"

The girl flinched, avoiding her eyes and looking at the ground. "I'm doing important work for my clan here. I can't go back until it's complete," she said quietly, the conviction in her voice becoming stronger over time. Kallian thought she was probably lying or at least hiding the truth, but she did not care enough to inquire further.

As Kallian reached down to pull her up, the wind took hold of her hood an uncovered her head. The girl seemed relieved that she was dealing with an elf rather than a human by the look on her face. "What are you staring at?" Kallian snapped, a little uncomfortable at her intense stare.

The girl blushed a deep red and looked away, stumbling over her words a bit as she said, "I...I'm sorry. I didn't know you were one of the elvhenan. I was just, you know, thinking that you're very pretty with those strange eyes of yours. Not that I think you're strange or anything that is! It's uncommon for elves to wear armor though, are you part of the Coterie?"

"What? No!" Kallian answered, wondering how she had come to that conclusion. "I'm a...Grey Warden". It was true but also not true. That part of her life was behind her now.

"Oh, what a coincidence! I know a Grey Warden, but I suppose he's not one anymore," she said enthusiastically and as an afterthought continued, "I'm Merrill by the way".

This Merrill certainly did not conform to her general idea of a Dalish elf, Kallian thought as she tried to extricate her hand from the grip of this chirpy, overly friendly thing. Getting kicked out of her clan must have made her needy, or maybe this was the reason she was banished. She opened her mouth to introduce herself but hesitated, wondering if the girl would recognize the name. "_Probably, but sod it_," she thought. "I'm Kallian".

Luckily for her, this Merrill was rather dim. "Kallian...Kallian...I'm sure I've heard that somewhere before," she frowned, face scrunched up in thought.

"Don't know where you could of. It's not like I'm famous or something," she said nonchalantly, wrapping a few strands of red hair around her finger and examining it. "You said you knew a Grey Warden who quit? Grey Wardens can't run away".

"Well, now that I think it over...I probably shouldn't have told you that. He doesn't want to be dragged back to the Grey Wardens," she explained in a guilty voice.

"Like I care about punishing some deserter. What's his name?" she asked, only half curious.

"I really shouldn't say..." Merrill shook her head.

"There you are, Kitten. I thought I would get here and you'd already be lost in Darktown somewhere," a loud voice spoke from behind them.

Kallian turned and her eyes widened as a familiar face looked back at her. "Oh, shit".

Isabella studied her for a moment with narrowed eyes, but just as quickly an expression of recognition passed over her face. "Well now," she said with a playful grin, you're looking a lot better than the last time I saw you. Delicious even".

"You've met before, Isabella?" Merrill asked.

"Oh, we had a couple of encounters at the Pearl a few years ago. She was just a scrawny thing then, but it seems like the Chantry sisters weren't far wrong when they called you a desire demon. I can see why that king of yours still hasn't taken a wife," Isabella smirked, leaving no doubt as to what she meant by 'encounters'.

"Oh, the place Anders worked at for a while, like the Blooming Rose? What did you do there?" she asked before coming to a sudden realization. "Oh, you're talking about dirty things again aren't you? She's one of your lovers then".

"That is nothing but pure slander!" Kallian snarled, pointing her finger accusingly at Isabella.

The others tensed at her raised voice and hostile gesture having been patiently waiting, though not without a little interest, for the conversation to end. Bastila looked over to HK-47 and asked worriedly, "What's going on now?"

"Translation: The meatbags are attempting to resolve their personality conflicts apparently stemming from a failed sexual relationship occurring at some point in the past. Apparently this is my lot in life, to relate the meaningless travails of organic existence and not to kill," HK sighed, if a droid could sigh that is.

"Wait, say that again," Atton said in monotone.

"Don't listen to that brainless hunk of metal! He's obviously lying!" she shouted in Basic. I barely know this schutta!"

"Apparently well enough to know she's a schutta," Mira quipped.

"Andraste's tits, stop screaming all that foreign nonsense! We can't understand you!" Isabella huffed.

"Be quiet you! You've already caused enough trouble! Go take your Dalish pet and leave," Kallian muttered angrily, pushing Merrill in the direction of Isabella.

Isabella just shrugged and took Merrill's hand. "Apparently we're not wanted here, Kitten. Let's leave the ill-tempered hero of Ferelden alone and meet up with Hawke; he'll probably be better company. Before I forget though, if you're looking for Anders he probably has no desire to see you, but if it's that bitch Revan you want, she's probably at the Hanged Man".

"Huh, it's a small galaxy after all," Kallian murmured, not exactly surprised that Revan would fall in with some acquaintances of hers. The Force worked in mysterious ways apparently. "Why don't you take me to this Hanged Man? I'm sure Revan would love to see me".

"No doubt," Isabella purred, her free hand snaking over Kallian's shoulder as she pulled the two elves close.

Kallian's attempts to extricate herself from Isabella's embrace were in vain, and apparently she was not the only one displeased with the clingy pirate. "Hey, we're kind of trying to keep a low profile here! We don't need you molesting our girl out in public," Atton insisted.

Isabella shot him a blank look as he glowered at her. Kallian just rolled her eyes and said, "Relax, Atton. I'm not going to let her have her way with me. _You_ might give it a shot though with all that tension you've got built up. I'm sure you'd take anything you can get".

Atton gave an involuntary twitch, eyeing the confused pirate with disgust. "Personally, I think I'd rather take a blaster bolt to the head. I like girls with standards, and seeing as there are none around here..."

"Oh fierfek! And here I was planning our romantic getaway too. I guess I'm just not good enough for you," she pouted.

"Well, when you put it like that...I might be able to make an exception. Can't hurt, right?"

"How nice of you, but before you lose yourself to a jealous rage and go dark side on us, the schutta's just taking us to see Revan," Kallian remarked snidely.

"That mean you two are finished then? Damn, there goes the entertainment," Mira said dryly as Bastila looked on disapprovingly. If the commandos were of the same opinion was unknown, their blank visors expressionless.

"Excuse me," Merrill spoke hesitantly in Basic, "if you, umm, forgot...you're speaking in that strange tongue again. It's kind of hard to follow along for Isabella, so could you, well if it's not private I mean...tell her what you're saying to your friends".

"Wait...you speak Basic?" Kallian asked, aghast at the possibility.

The elven girl nodded as Kallian and Atton blushed slightly. "Revan did something with her 'Force' and made us understand. She said it was more convenient that way...if slightly unpleasant for the rest of us".

"That technique?" Kallian shivered involuntarily. "Slightly unpleasant, hardly, more like getting mind raped. Why didn't you say anything? Here I've been making an ass out of myself..."

"I'm sorry...I just never got a chance," she blushed with an apologetic smile.

"Still don't know what's going on!" Isabella spoke up in an annoyed tone.

"That idiot's just freaking out over nothing again," she said dismissively with a wave of her hand. "And anyway, these guys don't speak the common tongue, so you're all in the same boat".

"Correction: I am well-versed in this world's language with a passable knowledge of vocabulary and an excellent grasp of syntax. After all, along with the termination of organic meatbags, translation is my primary function," HK reminded her.

Isabella looked up at the lowered hood of the assassin droid who looked like nothing more than a rather tall individual under his dark cloak. "Strange friends you have here. What's an organic meatbag?"

"Answer: You, improperly covered organic, are a meatbag. With those squishy parts, all that water, and inferior intelligence, you possess all the characteristics of the average meatbag, and I would take great delight in terminating you," HK responded gleefully.

"Is that a euphemism for something? I don't know if he's attempting a failed attempt at flirting or if he wants me dead," she said, apparently a little unnerved.

"Just ignore him. HK's a little weird to say the least, that is to say, insane," Kallian smirked.

"Objection: I am but a sane droid in an insane galaxy forced to lower myself to perform menial tasks in conflict with my original programming. You should be grateful".

"Funny insane or dangerous insane?" Isabella whispered covertly.

"Well, he thinks his whole purpose in life is to kill people..."

"Dangerous then. Merrill, be a good girl and stay away from the madman," Isabella cautioned the wide-eyed girl.

"Well are we finding Miss Dark Lord of the Sith, or are we just going to keep standing here," Atton spoke impatiently.

As Kallian beckoned for Isabella to lead on, she looked back at Atton and quipped, "What's your hurry? It's not like the world's going to end or something".

"Don't tempt fate. I hear she's a bitch," he said darkly, and Kallian could not help but to look up at the gray sky, wondering when the Sith would arrive. For a moment, it felt like something was looking back at her, and she shivered.

The Hanged Man occupied a central location in the slums, apparently called Lowtown, which to Kallian's astonishment was not the worst place to live in this city. Apparently that dubious honor went to a series of sewers known as Darktown. It looked rundown, whitewash on the pitted stucco walls faded away and stained by some better-left unknown substance in some places. From the crowd gathered outside and the raucous noise leaking out into the street, it was clear that the bar was something of landmark at least in Lowtown. When she looked up, she saw a burned, straw effigy grinning down at her as it swayed in the wind.

The namesake of the bar was not the only one looking them over, as she saw several of the crowd leering at her with the inevitable catcalls soon following. Isabella did not seem to mind though, a wide grin on her face as she gave as good as she got, the crowd parting as she made her way to the door practically dragging Kallian along. She pushed open the creaking, wooden door with authority, and Kallian's eyes immediately focused on the pair of gray eyes staring right at her.

Revan was sitting alone though not far from a particularly loud group bearing another familiar face. She looked the same as she had three years ago, pale face disfigured by pink burns and wicked scars, her stringy, black hair now tied in a braid. It was always hard to guess how old she was when her mask was off since she was not exactly old, but her hard eyes and long hair giving her a severe, tired look. Momentarily dumbfounded, Kallian vaguely thought that she might look better if she cut her hair short, but quickly banished such idle thoughts from her mind as the former Sith looked at her with a bemused expression.

Apparently someone had been expecting Isabella as the bearded man at the table next to Revan called out to her. "You an Merrill get lost again, Isabella? Who's your new friend?"

Isabella just smiled innocently, running a hand through Kallian's long, fiery locks as the elven woman grimaced. "Oh, just a stray I picked up wandering the streets of Lowtown. She was so cute I just couldn't leave her alone".

The dwarf in the group laughed and said, "You already have one kitten, Rivaini. Besides, this one doesn't look too thrilled at the idea of being your pet".

"I'm afraid I will have to agree with Varric. She has already been claimed by me, unfortunately," Revan spoke airily.

Revan stood up as Kallian looked back and forth between the cloaked woman and the open-mouthed group sitting nearby. Apparently she knew them. She sauntered lazily up to her with a casual smirk, gauntleted hands landing heavily on her shoulders, as Revan said in a playful tone, "It's been a long time my cute, little apprentice. You're a little late".

* * *

**A/N: Tried to get this chapter out faster since the last one took four months or so. I wrote several versions of Kallian returning to Thedas, but I went with a more subdued version since the others came off as a more of a "this is my boomstick" kind of thing. In the next chapter, I want to try and avoid a cliched curb stomp battle battle between the Republic and the Chantry in Kirkwall. Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed. MrEmperor, from the first chapter I wanted to involve the Kotor 1 characters since I though the cameos in the original game were kind of weak. I love when games build on the continuity of previous entries in the series rather than only vaguely referencing past events. Thanks for the review Gogolu. Codyy, Revan tends to consider non-Force users to be inferior generally, and when faced with a creature all Force users are terrified of, she projected her own fear on to them. Hawke and the others were doing pretty well against it when Revan interfered. I have played the Revan flashpoint, and I always had in my head canon that Revan would fail in her fight against the Emperor. Alot of people seem to hate how they handled Revan in the game, but I liked it. I always imagined Revan as a dark, ends-justify-the-means kind of person. Playing as a light-sided Sith in the game, when Revan revealed his monstrous plan, I felt like I was playing on the heroic side facing Revan as he should have been, not the typical, goody two shoes light sider most Jedi are portrayed as, but a brutal and pragmatic Jedi willing to do anything to protect the Republic. Mattias88, I think everyone who writes cannot help but worry about how it will be received. I thought Nihlus would show up at the end of this chapter, but I decided to slow it down a bit. Bugsquirt, I don't know how much I am going to diverge from the plot, but I think alot of your ideas could be really interesting. Nihlus is going to arrive soon, so I don't know if there will be much time for Revan and the others to go adventuring, but when he does arrive, Thedas will be affected more than Telos was in canon. I think this story is at its best when building relationships between characters and exploring the differences between the two worlds, but I think the next chapter will be more dedicated to action. **


	16. Many Meetings

Lux woke from a fitful sleep, faceless masks with fire reflected in their opaque visors haunting his dreams. It was not dreams he had to fear though, as the Mandalorians' push to the Core was quickly becoming the stuff of nightmares. Everyday more reports came in of another Inner Colony world falling to the Mandalorians, their surfaces torched, the men and women slaughtered, and the children forcibly conscripted to serve as cannon fodder. It was a good thing they hid behind those helmets, as otherwise he did not know if he could give the order to mow them down if it was a group of kids looking back at him over the trenches.

The thought made him cringe, and he buried his head in a pillow trying futilely to focus on something else. Peace of mind was in short supply in this war. With falling back to sleep seeming unlikely, he turned on his side to see if Revan was up, but an empty space and a few rumpled sheets were all that greeted him. He could not help feeling a bit disappointed.

"Huh, what's with that face? You miss me already?" the woman in question said playfully from the foot of the bed, surprising him. She was standing there with a robe draped across her arm, but she did not bother to cover herself. Lux though her skin was almost a sickly pale, her body looking as if it was carved from ice, but spending all your time either on ships draped in a heavy cloak had its disadvantages.

"See something you like?" she turned to face him, an obnoxious smile plastered on her face.

"To my eternal shame," he groaned, stretching like a contented feline.

"Yes, well...we all have our desires, and we do what we must to fulfill them," she said with a knowing smirk, but Lux was oblivious to her true meaning. "Even if our pride takes a hit, there are worse things".

"Huh, like what?" Lux chuckled, slinking off the bed to wrap his arms around her.

She tried not to look bored as he traced a series of kisses down her neck, eventually managing a smile as she said, "Like sleeping with a half-shaved Wookie perhaps..."

"I resent that," he said with mock hurt as Revan twirled a lock of his long hair around her finger. "Half my relatives are Wookies, and they happen to think I'm quite dashing".

"You'll have to introduce me one day," she said wryly. "I always liked Kashyyyk".

"Whoa, don't you think you're moving a little too fast there, Revan? You want to meet my parents now? When's the wedding?" he snarked.

"You and your insane fantasies," she grinned before sobering quickly. "Anyway, I can't even remember my parents, and I sincerely doubt you're any different. Just another thing the Jedi took from me".

"_The_ Jedi? If I didn't know better, I would have thought you were one of _these Jedi_," he frowned, the old worry once again gnawing at his thoughts.

"The masters on the Council...those false Jedi, traitors, cowards...that is what I mean. Our comrades amongst the fleet, our brothers and sisters, they are the true Jedi. Are we not to serve as guardians of the Republic? Is that not our purpose?" she said quickly, waving his concern away.

"But Master Kae was the one who took you from your parents, not the Council," he reminded her.

"Following their rules," Revan snapped in an annoyed voice. "Don't try to make me out to be a hypocrite. I see what you're doing. Arren Kae is like a mother to me. You're just a Council apologist...twisting my words".

"Everything's always black and white with you. The Council is irredeemably evil; my comrades are fighting on the side of righteousness. They're wrong, I'm right. Sometimes things aren't clearly right or wrong. Just because you feel strongly about something, your opinion doesn't just become fact," Lux insisted as Revan slipped away, turning her back to him to dress in silence.

The uncomfortable silence went on for a while, but eventually Revan turned back to him, her gray eyes focused and serious. "I know that things are not as simple as we make them out to be. I do not resent being a Jedi...in fact I enjoy it even though I was not given a choice. But saying to the Council, 'Hey, you have a good point about some power being behind the Mandalorians, maybe we should be a bit cautious,' is not going to end this war. I can only deal with allies and enemies, not those with shades of both. It's easier that way".

"I know you've probably heard this before, but..." Lux began hesitantly.

"Sometimes the easy path isn't the best one," she finished for him. "Problem is, there is no easy path to get through this war. All of them are uncertain".

"Yeah, sucks doesn't it?" he quipped, trying to ease the question a little bit.

"Indeed," she quirked a brow up in a bemused way. "Well, if you want to know about something else that 'sucks' meet me on the bridge; I have an assignment for you. Oh, and make sure to dress yourself first. I know how these simple things seem to slip your mind..."

* * *

"So...you and Revan, huh?" Vima Sunrider began without preamble as they picked their way through the wrecked city.

"Pretty crazy, am I right?" he shook his head with a grin.

It was crazy, at least in his opinion. Their relationship was strange to say the least. They had not got along as children, Revan spending most of her time sucking up to Arren Kae or getting into trouble with Malak when she was not bullying the other younglings. He remembered her as arrogant, scheming, and without a care in the world for others, especially when she hurt them. The punishments the other masters constantly imposed upon her did nothing to improve her attitude, only making her more convinced that she was in the right and suffering unjust persecution. She was a spoiled brat in other words.

What was worse, the few years they had not seen each other failed to change her at all. She was still prideful, extremely obnoxious, and possessed of an absolutely neurotic belief about her own superiority to almost everyone else. She still disparaged her comrades and threw tantrums when she did not get what she wanted, as he often had to hear when she came back to their room fuming over some innocuous slight. She was manipulative and moody, often only feigning being nice when she wanted something only to become downright unpleasant to be around when she did not get it.

She did have some good points though, he had to admit. Revan could be funny, though in a mean-spirited way mostly. Her desire to protect the Republic and its people was genuine; the fury he saw in her eyes every time they came across another mutilated corpse and burned-out city one of the few emotions she did not feign. Most of all, the loving behavior she showed to him when they were alone made her flaws worth it. He had to admit though, her looks also did not hurt.

He wondered why she had wanted to be with him. She had never shown any interest before, and the way she had practically thrown herself at him at the compound on Dantooine almost made him think she was sleeping with him only to get his support. After he had joined her though, their relationship continued in the same, disconcerting manner it had begun. Sometimes he thought someone was playing a giant prank on him, and he just was not in on the joke.

Revan was very careful about keeping their little dalliance under wraps though, never displaying any affection toward him with anyone around. He supposed the Jedi policy discouraging strong feelings toward others was still in effect even among the renegades, but that certainly had not stopped them from violating every other rule the Jedi had. He wondered how Vima had figured it out.

"And what does Malak have to say about this?" she asked him curiously.

"What about him? We serve on different ships, and we barely even see each other," he said, a bit perplexed about why she was asking about him.

"I don't know. I just though...that those two were together, you know? Seems like I was wrong then," she shrugged, an uneasy smile passing over her lips.

He narrowed his eyes at that. Revan never talked about Malak when they were alone, but presumably they were still good friends and, if Vima was right, maybe more. "You don't seem to concerned that we're doing exactly what the council has forbidden," he observed, brushing aside those thoughts.

She scoffed, "All that nonsense about love making you evil is a bunch of bantha fodder. I wouldn't even be here if my mom had stuck to the Jedi way. You can do what you want; I don't care. I don't care what the Council thinks either. Mom's probably rolling in her grave about now seeing what cowards they've turned into".

A sonic boom echoed through the burned out city as a wing of fighters streaked overhead, followed by the unrelenting drone of personnel carriers they were escorting. Lux looked up, watching as the behemoths cruised overhead, the fighters weaving between them like swarming insects. "Didn't know we were pulling out so soon," he commented, shielding his eyes from the bloody red sun.

"Our bombers pretty much leveled this place. No point in letting the bastards off the hook while we mop up. This area's cleared anyway," Vima sighed, gesturing to their grim surroundings. "Haven't lost anyone to snipers or ambushes in almost a week".

"I heard they're abandoning the cities and holing up in the forests. The way those bastards are fighting us, it'll be a few decades before Mandalore is ours".

"I don't think the fleet can keep the Mandalorian armada off us for that long. We've already given up half a dozen worlds on the border of the Core to keep them occupied," she smiled grimly. "I know conventional military wisdom says capturing the enemy's capital is devastating to their morale..."

"But nomads don't have a concept of a capital. Yeah, I know," he finished for her. "Sometimes I wonder what the hell Revan is even thinking".

As he said that, Vima's holocommunicator began pinging, and when she activated it, Revan's masked visage appeared in miniature. "Vima, I need you to hit a shielded communications post. We've tried hitting it from here, but the shield they got must be running with redundant generators. Taking it out from the ground seems the best option".

"What'll we be dealing with when we get there?" she asked, all business now that there was a job that needed doing.

"They're jamming our sensors in the area, but I don't imagine you'll meet much resistance. Intelligence is that the enemy's pulling back from Keldabe, and that this post is just coordinating the retreat. Anyway, you will have armored support if you meet any resistance," Revan clarified.

"So, you want me in on this?" Lux cut in, moving behind Vima into Revan's field of view.

"No," Revan said sharply. "Take the next shuttle back to the _Vengeance_. I need you back on the bridge at your earliest convenience".

Without another word, she cut off communications. "Well...that was a little strange," he said, scratching his head.

"She's probably pining away from you," Vima teased. "Doesn't want her boyfriend getting hurt in the raid".

"Yeah, don't go get yourself killed. I'd hate for that to happen," he said sarcastically.

"Don't plan to. Wouldn't want you all broken up about it after all," she shot back, waving as she boarded a walker.

He gave her an exaggerated salute, watching as her walker became a black smudge below the setting sun.

* * *

When he got to the airfield, he could already tell something was wrong. Troop transports were lifting off after being fully loaded and heading back to space, not another part of the planet. The surrounding camps were ghost towns, a few stragglers working to gather up any equipment they could carry but leaving all of the heavy machinery behind. Ordinary soldiers were whispering amongst each other and every officer had the same grim expression plastered on their face. The whole place reeked of tension, but no one seemed to have any idea what was going on.

He had contacted Revan at least half a dozen times as he waited, refusing to leave the planet before he had a better picture of the situation, but she stubbornly refused to pick up. Finally, after the red sun had already set behind the horizon, Revan finally got back to him. "Lux...where are you? I told you to return immediately," she said without preamble, sounding very annoyed.

"I believe you said I could return at my convenience," he shrugged. "Waiting here was convenient for me".

"It will look a little less convenient for you when you're dead," she growled. "The Mandalorians smashed the Inner Rim fleet at Onderon and escaped back to the Hydian Way".

"Force...how much time do we have?" he spoke gravely, voice barely rising above a whisper.

"Not enough to get all our forces off world. You have to leave now," she ordered.

He ignored the command and instead focused on her first statement. "You can't mean to just leave our troops here! You won't abandon them, right?" he asked her disbelievingly.

"I do what's necessary. We have no time. I'll save what I can," she said defensively.

"There are men and women on this world dying for the Republic! Dying for you! Don't they matter at all to you!" he yelled at the miniature Revan.

"How dare..." she seemed at a loss for words before recovering and fixing him with a menacing glare. "Do you think I don't care about the soldiers we lose? I have to consider the welfare of the entire fleet. Would you have the one force standing between those savages and Coruscant destroyed just so you can say no one was left behind? I _will not_ be responsible for that".

"Has Vima finished with her mission yet? Has she made it out?" he questioned, ignoring her outburst.

Revan's eyes stayed locked on his own as she said coldly, "Her unit encountered unexpected resistance. They're pinned down, and we have no way of pulling them out without suffering unacceptable casualties even if we had the time".

Lux wanted to scream at her. She showed absolutely no remorse. "I'm not leaving a friend behind," he declared, fixing her with a stony stare. "I'm going".

"You...will do no such thing," she growled back at him, voice like ice.

"Watch me," he spat, moving to shut down the connection.

"Wait! If you do this...I swear...I swear I will leave you to die on this Force forsaken rock!" she yelled.

"I wouldn't expect anything else from you," he said without emotion, cutting the connection just as he heard her begin to curse.

* * *

Lux could feel that Vima was still alive as his hastily cobbled together wing of gunships and fighters charged through the skies of Mandalore. He could feel the anxiety of the soldiers around him, well aware that the Mandalorian armada would arrive within moments and that they might not have a fleet to escape to. He had not kept the truth from any of them, loath as he was to let any soldier throw away their life on a suicide mission without at least knowing what they were getting into.

"Approaching the target," their pilot said. "Sensors not detecting any enemy fighters".

"Got a visual on gun emplacements around the target. Missiles inbound!" one of the fighter pilots reported.

"Everyone hold onto something!" their pilot barked as the gunship veered away from the onslaught, rolling as Lux and the others tried to brace themselves between the deck and ceiling.

"Fierfek, intelligence really fucked it up on this one! There's antiaircraft batteries and artillery all over the target!" someone else cut through the chatter.

"I need fighters on those guns! We're not going to make it through if they're not taken out!" another spoke.

"Concussion Missiles free! Ain't that a beautiful sight!" the squadron leader cackled madly, the explosions so loud that Lux could hear them over the roaring engines of their gunship.

As Lux waited for a confirmation on the destruction of the guns, an explosion near their gunship ripped the side panel off its bearings and sent him sprawling into the opposite door, two of the commandos leaning against the suddenly absent panel being sucked out as their ride shook violently. "Damn, taking hits here!" the pilot yelled. "If you don't kill those guns right now there's ain't going to be nothing left for you bastards to escort!"

Lux tried to stand and stumbled as his vision swam, burning fields rushing past as the gunship pulled low to the ground, trying to throw off the tracking on the missiles. Through his swimming vision, he saw another gunship struck straight in its grinning, painted mouth. "_Maybe Revan was right after all_," he though vaguely.

"Most of those guns are shielded. We can't get through!" the squadron leader growled. "Recommend aborting mission. We'll need rescuing ourselves if things keep us like this!"

"Negative, Red Leader. The mission is to extract General Sunrider, and I plan to get it done!" Lux barked into his own comlink.

"So we all get killed to save one Jedi?" one of the soldiers asked incredulously as the others grumbled in agreement.

"You want to be a coward, fine stay here," another spoke up, an officer by the look of the red stripes on her armor. "We joined up to kill Mandalorians, and that's what we're going to do. Not bitch and complain".

Lux nodded his thanks to her as the opposition crumbled. "I swear Jedi when I meet you in hell, I'm going to kill you all over again!" a fighter pilot yelled over the comlink.

"I'm going to leave you bastards here. Got a little walk ahead of you, but if you want us here when you get back you got to deal with it," the gunship pilot spoke, his voice tight with stress.

Scarcely a few moments later, the gunship hit the ground hard, bouncing once before settling onto the burning field. It only remained a moment to drop off the platoon, but that was enough for a missile to find it, detonating before it could rise even a few meters off the ground. The force of the explosion knocked Lux and the others to the ground as flaming shrapnel littered the field around them. He looked up at the sky just in time to see a fighter's wing sheared off by laser fire. "_How could Revan have underestimated enemy resistance so completely?_" he thought. If he did not know better, he might have suspected that she was sending Vima to her death.

"Well what the fuck are we going to do now?" a shell-shocked soldier spoke to no one in particular as he stood with wide eyes watching the fighter take a long, spinning dive into the ground. "What are we going to do?"

"What we're going to do, private, is our fucking job," the officer snapped as she replaced her helmet. "The other units will be heading for the rendezvous, and I don't plan on being late".

"The guys we're here to rescue...there's a good chance the Mandos've already taken them out. What if we get there and there's no one left, lieutenant?" one soldier asked.

"We get out quietly. Do not engage before you have the target in sight. We don't want to attract attention if we can help it. If we encounter any of the bastards before we get to the extraction zone...no noise, no fuss," she warned the group, hefting a truly massive disruptor rifle as she did so. "And no blasters. Damned squirt guns can't get through their armor. Grenades, flechetes, and disruptors only".

It was moments like this that made Lux question why he was given the rank of general. He was no professional soldier and knew it. The worst part was that so did the troops under his command. "And you," the lieutenant startled him out of his musings. "No lightsabers until we find our guys. Mandalorians will trip over each other trying to get a Jedi kill, so you'll put us all in danger. You have another weapon?"

"Well...no," he admitted sheepishly, knowing he looked woefully unprepared. In his defense this was kind of a spur-of-the-moment thing.

She sighed and rolled her eyes before pressing a brutish looking slugthrower in his hand. "This...shoots fragmenting shells that spread a few feet after firing. The alt-fire electrifies them, but don't use it too much or you'll melt the barrel. Got it?"

"Got it," he nodded.

"Spare mags," she growled, shoving the ammunition into his other hand. "Let's move it, people!"

The sound of blaster fire grew louder as they approached the outer ring, darting between jagged pieces of shrapnel as improvised cover. The Mandalorians seemed more concerned with the enemy inside their fortifications as what few sentry guns were present went unmanned. The lieutenant directed one team to take the guns, hopefully to cover their escape, the understanding being that they would hold position until the main group reached the cover of the distant forest. They were all aware of the implications of their assignment.

They sprinted to the inner wall, the burned-out shells of walkers littering the field, abandoned by the Republic troops. The collapsed sections of the wall and the lack of defenders meant that the attackers had successfully breached the inner defenses, but Lux had a feeling they had not gone farther than that. They hit the wall within a few seconds of each other, staying in cover as they peaked through jagged breaches in the durocrete. Their commander held up one hand in a motion to stay put before crouching and aiming her rifle. The other snipers did the same as Lux took a quick peak at the exposed Mandalorians laying an endless stream of fire on their unseen comrades. "Snipers fire on my mark. Everyone else charge in after the first shot and head for the center of the compound. Keep your heads down and we'll give you cover," she said, adjusting the scope on her disruptor as she did so.

And so they waited, time seeming to slow as Lux watched the Mandalorians continue their assault. He could feel the nervousness of the soldiers around him, the pain in their hands as they gripped their rifles desperately, the quick, short breaths they took a they waited. He knew exactly when the lieutenant pulled the trigger, the head and torso of a Mandalorian warrior disappearing only a moment later. The warrior's comrades failed to even notice as their own deaths came a second after, orange fire eating away at their bodies as the killing energy ripped through them.

Lux never saw the second volley as he was charging forward, lightsaber activating as he broke off from the main group. He hoped the distraction would draw fire away from the others and was rewarded with a round of blaster fire peppering his steps. He blocked a few errant shots back at his attackers before taking cover behind another burning walker, the whine of a rocket forcing him to abandon that position before he could catch his breath.

Darting toward the heavy sound of gunfire, he found himself face to face, or face to mask more like, with a Mandalorian. He cut her blaster in half before she could bring it to bear, but she quickly jumped back and ensnared his saber hand with a tight cable and pulled him toward her. He let her, pulling his shotgun and firing as the barrel practically grazed the metal of her visor. The transparisteel shattered and gouts of blood exploded from the breach in her helmet. Two blaster bolts distracted him from freeing his arm, his hand contorting to block the shots as another warrior charged at him. He quickly cut the cable and turned to meet his attacker, deflecting another round of shots before wrenching the man's arm back with the Force and impaling him in the neck with his saber.

The roar of blaster fire grew ever louder as Lux tried to search for Vima through the Force. It was difficult as men and women were suffering and dying all around him, their panicked thoughts and uncontrolled emotions flooding his senses even as he tried to filter them out. He followed the faint traces of her in the Force, her essence so diminished that he scarcely had a hope that he would find her alive, and when he finally found her, slumped next to a bloodstained barricade, he was sure she was dead.

He kneeled beside her and she stirred, eyes opening as she sensed his presence and her lips curling into a weak smile. "Wondered when you were going to show up," she whispered.

"How badly are you hurt?" he asked quickly, eyes roving over her bloody robes.

"Just a flesh would," she grimaced. "Just thought I'd rest here a while...try to recover my strength".

He looked at the injury on her side, blood oozing out from the shredded flesh. "There's no such thing as a flesh wound," he reminded her, working fast to bind the wound. "Just because they didn't hit anything vital doesn't mean you won't die from blood loss".

"Bastard Mandalorians...why can't they be stupid and use blasters like everyone else," she chuckled.

"Too much experience fighting Jedi," he offered.

"Your girlfriend send you to pick me up?"

"Something like that," he grunted. "We need to hightail it the hell out of here. The Mandalorian armada is inbound, and we have no time left".

She laughed blankly, staring up at him and saying, "I guess all this was for nothing then. My men are all dead for nothing".

"This is Revan's fault, not yours. She's the one who sent you into this deathtrap without bothering to check whether it was defended," he growled.

"Ooh, do I sense a rift between the happy couple?" she smirked weakly.

"A rift? More of a yawning gulf, really...especially if she leaves us all for dead. A few trillion light years and one angry Mandalorian fleet'll separate us. I hear long distance relationships don't last".

"So she didn't send you," she guessed.

"No...she ordered me back, said you were a lost cause," he grimaced, lifting the limp woman into his arms. "She might be gone by now for all I know".

"If she has...I want you to leave me, take the survivors, and get the hell out of here. You'll have a better chance without me to slow you down. Maybe you can find a ship or something," she said weakly.

"No one gets left behind," he chastised her confidently.

"Only the dead," she shot back.

"Lieutenant, I've recovered General Sunrider," he spoke into his comlink. "Fall back to the inner wall". He received an acknowledgment and immediately began sneaking back to the edge of the compound, darting between cover as the sound of blaster fire grew fainter and more sporadic.

He reached the inner wall without encountering any enemies, but only a few soldiers waited behind the rubble. All were heavily wounded, white armor now riven from Mandalorian rippers and scorched black with blaster fire. Through the Force, he could feel some of their lives ebbing away. Even with medical treatment, some would not make it.

"Lieutenant, where are you? We can't wait any more," he yelled into his comlink.

"We all knew this was a one way trip," came the response. "We'll draw their fire. You get the hell out of here".

"Lieutenant, I order you to fall back!" he barked.

"Couldn't even if I wanted to, general," she said in a resigned tone. "The mission objective is complete. The bastards are about to break through the perimeter, and they'll be on your ass if you don't leave now".

"May the Force be with you," he said quietly, knowing that he had insisted on this rescue mission only to save so few at the cost of so many.

"We'll make the sons of bitches bleed for every inch," she answered with bravado. "For the Republic!"

"For the Republic," he echoed, turning to head back to the extraction point.

* * *

A livid Revan awaited them, her mask off and her lips curled in fury. Her gray eyes flashed as she saw them approach, almost freezing Lux in place from the sheer force of her rage. "I thought you said you wouldn't wait. I guess you do love me after all," he joked timidly.

"How many did you save?" she asked curtly, not even acknowledging Vima.

"Vima and a few stragglers," he admitted.

"And your losses?"

"Heavy," he grimaced.

"Heavy, huh? Well you can add twenty six thousand two hundred and twenty to that," she whispered in a dangerous tone. "I ordered five cruisers to delay the Mandalorians while we waited for you. Three are dead in the water, one is in its death throes, and the last will soon be joining them. Congratulations, you're a hero".

The way she looked at him then, like he was the lowest scum she had ever looked at, made him flinch. He did not know what to say in his defense. "Revan...why? You should have left me," he apologized before a sudden surge of anger loosened his tongue. "I never wanted anyone to die for me! You should have just left me!"

"You forced me to make a choice. I had to balance the lives of the soldiers on those ships with the life of one stupid soldier, and I found that I could not afford to lose you," she stated without any warmth or affection.

"I'm not worth...I'm not worth so many lives," he choked out.

"Well...if you were not before, it appears you are now since that is the price I paid for you," she sighed before speaking into her comlink. "Captain, what is your status?"

"Shields down...hull integrity compromised," a ragged voice came from her communicator. "The other ships are in position, general. They altered their orbital trajectory before losing engine power".

"Very good, captain. Strike a blow against the Mandalorians that will haunt their children's nightmares for eternity. The Republic will not forget what you've done here and neither shall we," she cut the connection before switching to another channel. "Malak, is our gift ready to be received?"

"Packaged and gift-wrapped, Revan," came the response.

"Very well, you may fire when ready," she said cheerily.

"What are you planning? What's ready to fire?" Lux asked with mounting horror.

"We're giving the Mandalorians our regards for Serroco," she smirked as thousands of missiles streaked to the surface of Mandalore. "Nuclear missiles...a rather inelegant weapon, but these brutes perhaps will appreciate the artistry".

"You'll poison the entire planet!" a groggy Vima managed to yell out in disgust.

"Indeed, it will take years of cleanup, but I don't intend for the Mandalorians ever to return. Our ruined cruisers should see to that," she laughed.

"Fierfek! You mean to drop them on the planet? This is monstrous!" he objected.

"No, it's war," she said simply.

"Our troops are still trapped down there! They'll be killed too; don't you understand?" Vima snarled.

"They will die knowing they have denied the Mandalorian homeworld to the bastards forever. Sometimes, sacrifice is inevitable. All that matters is that we make it count," Revan said with fervor in her voice before turning her back on them and walking away.

"Wait!" Lux yelled after her. "You told me you never wanted to watch children die again. If you do this, millions will die: children, noncombatants...innocents! Can't you see that?"

"Mandalorian children will not stay innocent for long," she said darkly. "And there are no noncombatants among the Mandalorians".

"If you give this order, you will be just like them. A monster. You're better than this. We don't need to lower ourselves to their level to fight them. We'll find a way...without compromising our principles," he insisted, sure that he could make her see.

"War is no place for men of principles. I told you that I would do anything to defeat the Mandalorians. There is nothing I won't do, nothing I won't sacrifice to defeat them. I will give everything that I am, and if must do evil then I will do it without hesitation. The survival of the Republic is paramount. Our wants, or desires, our happiness, even our principles are nothing compared to that," Revan shot back at him with zeal rising in her voice.

"Then you'd sacrifice the very ideals of the Republic to save it? We'll be no better than the Mandalorians then," Vima said softly, glaring at Revan all the while.

"We are infinitely better than those animals. Do we treat war as a game? Did we commit genocide against innocent species for our own amusement?" she asked as her voice rose, attracting the attention of everyone in the hangar. "We never wanted this war! We were content to live our lives in peace, but we never will until the Mandalorians are utterly destroyed! Time and time again they have returned to attack us without provocation! Allied with our greatest enemies, the wreak havoc with every generation, preying on the weakest of us like the cowards they are! We are nothing like them!"

"If we are nothing like them then stop this! A Jedi only acts in the defense of others, never for revenge. Destroying the planet isn't necessary; it's only an act of barbarism that will shame us all and the Republic we serve!" he argued.

"It is necessary. The Mandalorians only attacked us because they think us weak. They destroy our planets, murdering and raping our citizens, selling our children into slavery with impunity, thinking themselves beyond our justice. We will show them how wrong they are," she snarled. "The Mandalorians doubt our resolve to see this war through to the end! Today, we will show them the strength of our resolve, how far we are willing to go, how devastating our fury can be. We will send the bastards a message...a message that the Republic is implacable in the face of its foes and what retribution it can expect for all the atrocities committed against our people".

"Do you think yourself a hero, Sorcha?" Lux said softly after she finished and the cheers of the personnel died down. "Do this...and history will remember you as the villain".

"Heroes and villains don't exist, my dear Lux, we only play those roles for the audience. It is they who decide how our actions are to be judged". When she reached the elevator, she stopped and called back. "One day Lux, I will not be there when you have to make the hard choice. War is not a game, and playing the hero more often than not ends up with that hero dead. Remember that".

As he watched the doors close and shield her from view, he thought about her words. Could he be counted upon to do what must be done? The question haunted him as the first plumes of fire bloomed on Mandalore.

* * *

Lux brooded on his dream as the Ebon Hawk approached Telos. He should have known then what Revan was, but he refused to see, blinded by the mask she wore. Revan was a sociopath, manipulating those closest to her to get what she wanted, twisting feelings of love and friendship to further her goals. When she no longer needed you, she cast you aside without the slightest hint of remorse. She had meant to kill Vima that day, thinking her a potential threat she could not control when she showed her true colors. He wondered if she was even capable of feeling anything for anyone else other than as tools for her benefit.

He had been a fool to actually believe she loved him. What she loved was the damage he inflicted on the Mandalorians, culminating with the final battle at Malachor where Revan threw aside any pretense that she was still a Jedi. When he went to her and told her he would be answering the summons of the Council, she did not even care. Without the Force, he was as useless to her as all the soldiers trapped on Mandalore were. Darth Revan did not need broken Jedi in her campaign to conquer the Republic. If only what he told Kallian was true, that he had never known the woman who claimed the mantle of Dark Lord. Years after he had last seen her, he knew her better than when she claimed to love him.

They landed at Atris' base, the hidden entrance already uncovered when he made his way through the snow to it. It was strange. Atris had always been paranoid, and the recent spate of attacks on Jedi made her tendencies even worse. She was either expecting him, or other concerns had taken precedence. When he entered the underground base, he could immediately sense a feeling of wrongness, like the dark side had taken hold inside. His hand strayed to the lightsaber at his belt, but he did not draw it as he descended into the shadowy bunker, now looking more like a crypt than a bunker.

His steps echoed as he ventured deeper into Atris' fortress, not even the hum of machinery from the ventilation system present to break the oppressive silence. The lights were dimmed when they were not shut off, giving the interior the feel of twilight on the surface. Despite the strange and foreboding feeling in the air, he felt no danger, only the strong presence of Brianna waiting for him in the great hall. The absence of Kreia in the Force was no indication she was not present though, as her talent for masking her presence was well known to him. He still wondered why she had run. Brianna could not have possibly overpowered her and forced her return to Atris' lair, and she must have known that he would not condemn her for defending him from the false masters of the Council. It made no sense, and what was more, he doubted that Atris would have left her hiding place, but he felt no sign of her either.

When he entered the great hall, the shadows of columns giving the high-ceilinged chamber a rather eerie contrast of darkness and light, he saw Brianna kneeling before an open stone sarcophagus with several just like it sealed and arrayed around her. She did not look at him though he knew she was aware of his presence, staring intently at whoever was resting in the casket. "I thought you were dead," she broke the silence, her voice sounding ragged and strained like she had not spoken for a long time. "She told me you were dead...she lied. Why would she lie?"

"Are you talking about Kreia?" he asked, his concern for her beginning to rise at her strange presence in the Force.

"She fooled me...played on my feelings for you, so I would bring her here. Why though? What had my sisters done that they deserved death? She already killed Atris...why did she have to take my sisters too?" she spoke in a deadened tone.

"Your sisters...wait, Atris is dead?" he sputtered, unable to make sense of what she was saying.

She gestured for him to approach, and he did so reluctantly, suddenly not so curious about whom lay in the sarcophagus. His fears were confirmed when he laid eyes on her desiccated face, her skin stretched so tight over her bones that she could have been dead for centuries, shriveled by the stale air in this tomb. She reeked of the dark side of the force, the remnant of powerful emotions of fury, envy, and contempt radiating from her corpse. He almost wanted to shield his face from what had once been Atris, to turn away from this dried-out husk that had been leeched of all life. "Who did this...Kreia?" he choked out, fearing the worst and wondering why he had not even felt her death.

"The witch murdered her and my sisters...but the weapon she used to slay Mistress Atris was none other than that traitor Kallian," she growled, spitting out the name with venom. Then she finally turned to him, eyes burning with hatred, "I told you she was not to be trusted. I felt the darkness within her, and yet you stayed my hand, telling me she was just young and confused. I tried to warn you...warn you that the dark side is not something you just get over. Those corrupted by darkness made their choice, and there is no saving them. You either embrace the light side or you fall to the dark side...you should have listened! If you had, Atris and my sisters..."

"I'm so sorry, Brianna," Lux said quietly as he joined her in kneeling. "I didn't think Kallian could be capable of such a thing, and Kreia was one of my masters. I never thought she would betray me...or you".

"What do you mean?" she frowned, knowing he was holding something back.

"I should have seen it. Kreia never did hide her feelings well when it came to those who wronged and slighted her," he continued. "She hated Atris for driving her from the Jedi Order, and she hated your sisters' mother for possessing the man she loved".

Brianna's eyes widened, and she spoke with increasing horror, "No, no...that can't be true...that's impossible! How could I possibly be..."

"You're your father's daughter, Brianna...nothing like her," he assured her. "How could you be when you never knew her?"

"My father shamed his family for her?" she said aghast. "My sisters were right. I never deserved to be part of this family. I bear the face of a monster...a Sith. How could I ever hope to be a Jedi with this tainted blood running in my veins?"

Lux would hear no more of this. He cupped her cheeks and turned her face to his, her silver eyes surprised at his forceful gesture. "Brianna, stop it! What your father and mother did have nothing to do with you! Each of us must bear enough of a weight with our own failings without burdening ourselves with the sins of our parents! Anger and despair are paths to the dark side; you know that! Are you going to let some woman you barely know dictate what you are just because she's technically your mother?"

"No," she responded forcefully. " You're right. I will redeem the honor of my family and bring this Sith to justice. A Jedi has no need of self-pity. Thank you for reminding me".

"I think I could use a reminder myself. I spend half the time wallowing in regret," he grimaced before meeting her eyes once again.

She looked away for a second, clearly uncomfortable with the situation, before recovering her confidence and bringing him in close for an embrace. "I am so glad you are alive. If you had died...with my sisters and Atris gone, I would have nowhere to go. Being alone after everything that happened..."

"You'll never be alone. I promise," Lux vowed, grasping her shoulders tightly.

"I never dreamed I would have a friend so dear to me as you, Lux".

"Nor I you, Brianna"

"I miss my sisters," she said quietly and Lux knew she was crying. "Tell me, you lost friends during the war; does the pain ever go away?"

"No," he said truthfully, "but those we love who remain with us help assuage the pain".

"Then help me," she breathed out.

"I'll stay with you for as long as you need".

He stayed for her for what must have been hours, but for him it seemed like minutes. When she recovered her strength, he helped her seal Atris' coffin where she said her final words of farewell to the woman who had been more of a mother to her than Kreia ever was. This bunker would now serve as a tomb for the last of the old Jedi, but also as the birthplace of a new Order. Lux promised himself that he would not repeat the mistakes of the old Council.

Brianna returned to the Ebon Hawk after the impromptu funeral, a thankful expression on her face for the words Lux had said on behalf of the dead, but he remained, relying on a feeling that told him there was still something more to do in the silent fortress. He crossed the narrow bridge, the dark side energy growing stronger with each step he took. He could see the doors of Atris' private chamber wrenched open before him, the thick metal crumpled like sheets of flimsi. "_Was Kallian hiding her true power?_," he asked himself, regretting not taking her massacre on Nar Shaddaa more seriously.

He paused at the entrance, the feeling of wrongness almost overwhelming him. If Kallian was truly responsible for this corruption, she must have really been a Sith Lord more powerful than he ever expected. But those musings quickly faded when he entered the darkened chamber, red lights appearing all around him as he entered the threshold. The dim light revealed evidence of the battle that had taken place here, black scorch marks from lightsaber strikes crisscrossing the smooth floor. The air still smelled of burnt flesh.

He felt cold sweat run down his back as he gazed at the ominous red lights, the black pyramids arrayed all around him seeming grow closer every time he blinked. He heard faint whisperings in an ancient language, but when he struggled to make out the words the room fell back into silence. Brianna could not have known what these were. No one could fail to mistake the darkness emanating from this room, but one so new to the Force could easily mistake the source of the corruption as the battle that took place here.

Lux reached out to touch one of the pyramids slowly, his hand shaking, only to jerk back as images of red faces and cruel yellow eyes filled his mind. Brianna had told him that she and her sisters were often tasked with bringing back ancient relics. Those without the Force could not distinguish Jedi artifacts from their darker cousins. "What were you doing here, Atris?" he said to himself. "What does this mean?"

The Sith holocrons gave him no answers. Shuddering, he looked to the ground where a curved saber was carved in two. Recognizing it immediately, he reached down to pick up the weapon he had forged so long ago, the faithful lightsaber that served him so well during the war's darkest days. He felt the taint of the dark side seeping through the thin metal of the hilt, and he gripped it tighter. Schemes within schemes, that was Kreia's way, he remembered. "Kreia," he whispered. "You knew...if you intended to hide everything from me why leave it out in the open, so I could find it?"

Kallian had come here to kill Atris. He knew she wanted to become a Jedi, even if she denied it with her sharp words. Kreia claimed she fell to the dark side on Korriban, but of course no one was there to witness it except herself, and Kreia was a master of Jedi Truth. They were pawns in Kreia's game, but he did not know what game she was playing or for what stakes. On thing he did know is that Kreia would not hesitate to sacrifice a piece if there was more to be gained from such a move. "Kallian...where are you?" he asked.

The only thing he knew for certain was that Brianna could never find out what truly transpired here. Learning that her beloved Atris might have followed the path of the Sith would break her. Her pain was already too great, and he would not add to her burdens by destroying the happy memories she held of the woman she so admired. He hoped it was the right decision.

* * *

"Well, I got sidetracked fighting the Sith and tracking down some lost Jedi Masters, you know, the usual," Kallian shrugged, her eyes sweeping from Revan to the others gathered in the room.

"Oh Maker, not you," Anders groaned.

"Nice to see you too, Anders. I heard you ran away from the Grey Wardens," Kallian smirked.

"Like you can actually leave," he scoffed.

"I warned you that being a Grey Warden wasn't all flowers and rainbows, but getting away from the Circle was all you cared about," she shot back.

"I thought I was freeing myself from slavery, but I was just exchanging one master for another," Anders said, his voice full of dislike.

Kallian bristled, but her anger could not match the fury of the tattooed elf sitting next to the bearded man. "Slaves don't have the opportunity to plan revolutions in bars drinking on someone else's tab, mage. You know nothing of being a slave".

"It's you who knows nothing," Anders snapped back. "The price paid to be a Grey Warden is too steep".

"What? You get maybe thirty years to live, no chance at having kids, and constant nightmares. We all have to deal with that Anders, and some of us didn't get to choose like you did," Kallian pointed out, not caring about revealing Warden secrets anymore. "And anyway, if you think I'm here to drag you back...good news, I don't care about you".

"Ouch. You sure know how to make friends, blondey," the dwarf chuckled.

Someone cleared her throat behind them and Kallian turned to see Bastila lowering her hood, her mouth set in a frown and her eyes narrowed. Despite her forbidding expression, Kallian could feel happiness radiating through her mental shields, the love she felt for Revan mixed in with more than a little anger at her long absence. "Revan," she began haughtily. "Five years you've been gone with no word. You even closed the bond between us, and where are we now? In danger of imminent destruction by some unknown Sith!"

"Not so unknown, Bastila. Nihilus was one of the survivors of Malachor, but he had no interest in joining my empire or that of the True Sith. All he cares about is finding Force users and consuming their power," Revan spoke airily, her lips set in a wide smirk.

"You are a fool, Revan. If you only trusted us, we would not be in this situation," Bastila matched her smirk with her own sad smile, approaching Revan slowly.

"I left exactly because I trust you. You would surely have come with me on this insane crusade against the True Sith, you and Juhani, Mission, Jolee, and the rest. This is _my_ fight. I'm not going to drag the people I love down with me again," she insisted.

"You will never be satisfied until you martyr yourself in the name of the Republic. So selfish...even after all this," Bastila said angrily, her eyes flashing as she looked into Revan's.

"Oh fierfek, please don't cry. I don't think I can take it!" Revan grinned, struggling not to laugh even as her own eyes shimmered with tears.

"Only a fool would shed tears on your behalf. Remind me again how well leaving everyone behind to go off and fight a reckless war turned out the first time, my dear Revan!" Bastila shot back.

"I have no complaints with the outcome. Mandalorians destroyed, Sith crippled, Republic at peace, sounds pretty good to me," Revan answered in a singsong way.

"For the Republic's sake," Bastila began in a resigned tone as she embraced the smirking woman, "let us hope your insane crusade ends on a happier note than the former".

"I don't intend to lose myself if that's what you are implying," Revan scoffed, wrapping her arms around Bastila's waist.

"The thought crossed my mind, I'll admit," she whispered, burying her face in Revan's shoulder. "But what worries me more is you being out here alone. Even the strongest of Jedi eventually face death, but I fear you one day you will confront the enemy without your friends at your side..."

"I do not intend on dying for a _very_ long time, Bastila," Revan sighed as she patted her friend's head.

Meanwhile Kallian was just staring dully at the pair, her mouth slightly agape at Revan showing anything like affection to another person.

At that moment Varric cleared his throat, earning a dirty look from Isabella who had up to this moment been smiling a Cheshire grin. "So are these the long awaited friends we've heard so little about," he asked.

"One friend at least," Revan broke her embrace with Bastila, "but if her companions are here to transport me off this world, I would gladly name them all friends if they would have me. My gratitude would know no bounds".

"Statement: That will not be necessary, master. I will take it on myself to see you safely away from this planet, and if you feel beholden to these meatbags, simply give the word and I will eliminate them," HK said gleefully, allowing his concealing cloak to fall from his shoulders.

"I can always count on you my murderous, little friend," Revan said dryly as Hawke's companions stared at the droid.

"Hawke, what am I looking at here?" Aveline spoke quietly, eyeing the red-eyed machine suspiciously.

"HK-47 is my personal assassin droid. I built him many years ago, and he has continued to serve me faithfully ever since," Revan said fondly.

"So...one of those golem things we found in the sewers then," Hawke observed. "I can only imagine why someone would need a personal assassin at their beck and call".

"Mockery: Obviously one requires an assassination droid to engage with in witty banter and occasional philosophical discussions, not to seek out and terminate one's enemies," the droid said his haughty way.

"Maker, is it taunting me now? I can certainly see a bit of the mother in the child," he laughed.

"You'll find that HK has a rather low opinion of us 'meatbags'. I have often been regaled with tales of mechanical superiority, but I assure you, that was completely unintentional on my part," she smiled.

"And yet he serves you...even calls you master," Fenris mocked.

"Qualification: I serve my master because I admire her dedication to the art of murder and destruction. I have had other masters, but sadly, they proved less skilled at employing the fullest use of my abilities".

"He means they all died," Revan explained.

"I wonder who was behind such unfortunate deaths," Varric said sarcastically.

"Oh, it was him. Purely unintentional of course. Not that he's not extremely happy about it or anything..." her voice trailed off.

"HK talks a big game, but he's really just a big sweetie inside," Kallian giggled, wrapping an arm around HK's waist only to grimace in pain as it was removed.

"Threat: Kindly keep your fleshy appendages to yourself or lose them".

"Yeah, he seems like a real sweetheart," Hawke said pointedly. "And as for the rest of your...friends?"

"Bastila and I fought together during the last days of the Jedi Civil War..." Revan began.

"A war _you_ started as I recall," Bastila reminded her.

"Yes, a war I _regret _starting," she shot her friend a glare. "Kallian I found when she was still a child, flailing about Ferelden with no idea how to use her powers in the midst of a blight".

"I didn't even know I had any powers, and I certainly wasn't a child, liar," Kallian scoffed in a playful way.

"Wisdom, not how many years you have lived, is the measure of whether you are a child or not," Revan remarked airily.

"Then I suppose we are all children by that standard, especially you my impulsive friend," Bastila pointed out.

"You guys are going to have to decide on a language here. Half of us don't know what's going on when you start blabbering that foreign nonsense," Hawke sighed, gesturing to Anders and Aveline.

"Easily rectified," Revan said nonchalantly as Kallian flinched involuntarily, knowing what was coming.

Bastila winced, holding her head with one hand as the others had similar reactions. "Was that truly necessary? Your droid could have translated".

Revan just shrugged, "Easier this way".

"Hawke," Aveline said dangerously, "was that blood magic?"

"Well that depends on how you define blood magic," he responded warily. "If you think it requires a blood ritual then no, it wasn't blood magic. If you think blood magic is all about controlling other people's minds then yeah, sort of, maybe".

"Maker, why do I let you drag me into these messes," she shook her head, all the while glaring at Revan and keeping her hand gripped around the pommel of her sword.

"Settle down. I know little of this 'magic' of your world, but my use of the Force was harmless. If anything, it was beneficial. Now you know Basic and we know your language if we didn't already," Revan said soothingly.

"Don't lie to them. The Force is a deadly weapon against the mind, able to twist and warp people that they can't even be called the same people anymore," Atton spat.

"And you would know this how?" Revan looked at him with an appraising glance.

Atton spun his lightsaber around his fingers and said, "Because that was my job. You made us capture Jedi and turn them to the dark side, remember? I saw how your Sith broke their minds, and it wasn't pretty".

"Well isn't this a grand reunion," Revan said darkly. "My apprentice, my companions, one of my former assassins...we even have a Mandalorian here".

"Mandalorian _Jedi_, just so you don't get any ideas," Mira responded to the challenge, shedding her cloak and revealing her garish armor. "I assume you distracted the gallery?"

"They will not trouble us. Feel free to wave around your lightsabers and blasters to your heart's content," Revan smirked.

At her word, the others removed their cloaks, revealing blinding white armor and their faceless, skull-like helmets. Hawke's group regarded them warily but Revan simply gave them a bemused look. "You brought the army with you, huh? Never thought I'd see Republic assault troopers this far from the Core," she opined.

"The Senate believes that the reconstruction of Telos requires the presence of the Republic's best troops. If other worlds...affected by the recent wars are to recover, the Core worlds must see success in the initial efforts," the Zabrak answered with controlled politeness.

"That's a relief. For a moment I thought you were here to arrest me for treason," Revan laughed, but the soldiers remained stoic and silent. "...And no one laughs. Has the Senate revoked my pardon without my knowledge?"

"Technically you were never pardoned by the Senate. The Jedi Council intervened on your behalf if you recall, but since the Jedi are all but destroyed..." Bastila trailed off.

"We are not here to arrest you, General Revan. We are under orders by Admiral Onasi to return you to Republic space for your own protection," the soldier explained.

"That bastard Carth. Don't tell me he still has those paranoid delusions that I am going to turn against the Republic," she turned to Bastila with a frown.

"Yes, because your track record is so good to begin with," she smiled back at her. "No, I am sorry. You did not deserve that. Both Carth and I worry about you. We just want to make sure you are safe and to help you if we can".

"If you want to help, give me a fleet. I will set fire to every Sith world in the Unknown Regions," she said petulantly, knowing they would not go along with such an absurd request.

"We _did _bring a fleet, and we _are_ hunting a Sith," Kallian reminded her.

"Nihilus," Revan spat.

"So you do know of him. I hoped you would," Kallian said. "Any ideas on how to stop him?"

"He was one of the Jedi who fought with us during the wars. At Malachor, every Jedi either died or turned to the dark side when Lux Vulnus activated the mass shadow generator. Nihilus' ship was sucked into the singularity, but the shock that spread through the Force changed him somehow, and even that could not kill him. He ripped his ship from the surface of Malachor, but he never joined Malak or I. Last I heard, he was the apprentice of my master, but obviously things have changed," she explained. "He feeds on the Force. Any living thing that gets close enough to him will be drained".

"Then how will we fight him if we can't get close?" Kallian asked.

Revan just shrugged. "Be strong enough in the dark side that he will be overwhelmed. Otherwise, since none of you are capable of that, even smashing him into a dying planet was not enough to kill him, so..."

"Kreia said she was sending him here to kill you, and you have no ideas!" Kallian said in an exasperated tone. "This is just great!"

Revan looked at her quizzically before saying, "Kreia sent Nihilus to kill me? I highly doubt that".

"She told me so on Korriban. She called herself Darth Traya, the true Dark Lord of the Sith," Kallian insisted as Bastila and the others listened intently.

"Yes, I already know that," Revan said dismissively. "She's just using you for some other purpose. Kreia cares nothing about obtaining power for its own sake. Her only desire is to see the Force destroyed forever".

Kallian looked like she wanted to argue the point further, angrily glaring at Revan but Bastila interrupted her before she could launch into a tirade, "The Force cannot be destroyed. There is no death, there is the Force".

"You were not at Malachor during the final battle, Bastila. There we proved the Force could be killed. So many died there that it ripped a hole through the Force itself, which gave birth to monsters like Nihilus," Revan said grimly. "Kreia believes that the Force is alive and has a will, a malevolent will. She believes the Force is the source of all conflict in the galaxy, that it sets Jedi and Sith against each other without end. She wishes to break its hold over us, so we will be...free in a sense".

"Madness...you did not agree to go along with this, did you?" Bastila questioned harshly.

"Of course not," she waved her concerns away. "My master has suffered greatly at the hands of Jedi, and she came to believe that the Force was acting through them. I hoped that she would let go of her obsession with time, but she believes it is her destiny to avenge herself against the Force. That was one thing we always disagreed on...whether fate ruled our lives or not. For all her wisdom...I could never get through to her".

"Well that's very nice and all, but while you're talking amongst yourselves, none of us have a clue what in the void you're talking about," Varric reminded them of their presence. "The Force we know a bit about thanks to our pleasant friend over here, but Jedi, Sith, Mandalorians, Malachor, Nihilus?"

"Missed a few there, Varric," Hawke said dryly.

"You can hardly expect to receive an extensive lesson on galactic history, can you?" Bastila scoffed. "And I assume Revan has already told you something of the Republic?"

"A big government that rules the stars apparently, protected by these Jedi, and home to lots of different races," Hawke shrugged. "Some of us saw the star map under the city, but you have to understand, even with that it's a little hard to believe some of this".

"If there are so many races in this 'Republic,' why are all of you human? I would have expected strange and fantastic creatures, not more of what I see everyday here," Aveline said pointedly, clearly unconvinced.

"We thought it best to avoid standing out, and bringing aliens that could not pass for near-human would have blown that right out the airlock," Bastila explained. "If we wanted to call attention to ourselves, we would have just landed our shuttle in the center of your city".

"And anyway, we are all _not_ human," the Zabrak said, removing her helmet and revealing the curved horns that poked through her spiky, red hair. Her partner did the same, a fur-lined face, yellow eyes, and pointed ears showing his Cathar ancestry. He grinned a fanged smile as the natives looked wide-eyed at the aliens.

Isabella was the first to recover. "Well, you two certainly aren't bad looking," she eyed them lecherously, licking her lips. "It gets boring around here with just your same-old elves, dwarves, and humans". The Zabrak just glared in response but her counterpart looked slightly intrigued.

"Just wait until you meet a Twi'lek," Atton grinned, earning several withering looks and one appraising one from Kallian.

"Please don't encourage her," Hawke sighed.

"The Republic has fought the various incarnations of the Sith Empire for thousands of years, the most recent ending little more than five years ago," Bastila explained, eager to put aside the previous topic before it could be discussed further. "At one time the Sith were a unique species, but they were wiped out during a war one thousand years ago. Now those calling themselves Sith are only united by a twisted philosophy. They seek power above all else, betraying their friends, dominating those weaker than themselves, and sacrificing their own sanity to the corrupting influence of the dark side. It is a Jedi's duty to prevent the galaxy from ever falling into the hands of the Sith".

"Wait, you wiped out an entire race of people?" Aveline asked, revolted at the very idea.

"They were the aggressor in that war, and they could not fathom the prospect of defeat. Rather than surrender, their leader drained the life out of his people to prolong his own life, hoping that with time he could build another army to destroy the Republic. His efforts were in vain, as his own apprentice slew him and took his power for his own. Such is the way of the Sith," Bastila said in disgust.

"They're not all dead, just hiding," Revan interjected. "The True Sith chose to run rather than join Naga Sadow in his last, futile attack. They're still here in the Unknown Regions though they've mixed so much with humans that it is a stretch to really call them the same species".

"You have seen them, alive?" Bastila questioned, looking stunned at the news.

"Not for long," Revan smirked. "I intend to rectify our Order's previous oversight".

"Never thought I'd hear a Jedi advocating genocide. Thought that was a Mandalorian thing myself," the Zabrak soldier spat, glaring at the former Sith as Mira frowned at her.

Revan just shrugged and laughed condescendingly. "Do you call the hunting of animals murder? When a group of predators attacks a herd of nerfs, you don't try to reason with them, you exterminate them".

"Well since you were a Sith and all..." Atton remarked airily before trailing off. He turned to wink at Kallian, but his gaze was met with a look of grim determination. Perhaps she agreed with that particular sentiment.

"Well you've explained the Republic and Sith but not these Mandalorians. Friends of yours?" Hawke asked.

"Filthy savages," Revan scoffed.

"Mindless beasts," Bastila offered.

"Murderous slavers," one of the soldiers growled.

"Wait, I need to think of a good insult," Atton said dryly.

"A noble and honorable race of warriors?" Mira said questioningly with eyes averted and a subtle smirk.

"Says the brainwashed Mandalorian," Atton observed.

"Any _honor_ they possess is held by a scarce few. Perhaps they were once brave warriors that wandered the galaxy seeking stronger opponents, but during the war they were thugs who massacred those weaker than themselves. Cowards," Revan spat.

"Says the traitor who attacked her own worlds without warning," Mira whispered under her breath with a roll of her eyes. Kallian and Atton could only smirk as Revan gave her a dark glare.

"Just as the Republic is a collection of races united under one banner, the Mandalorians take in anyone willing to accept a culture of war. The Republic has fought them since before Coruscant, the capital of the Republic and our common birthplace, had space travel. They were destroyed in a battle Revan participated in and few survived," Bastila explained.

"They murdered billions during the war, including my entire homeworld," the Cathar soldier growled.

"It's true," Mira admitted with a shrug. "I guess my parents were among them, but I was too little to remember. You don't have to worry about me though...I won't kill anyone...ever".

"Well being a warrior and not killing would seem to be kind of mutually exclusive, don't you think?" Hawke quipped. "Especially with one of those light swords".

"You'd be surprised what a person can survive," Kallian smirked. "You won't be bleeding to death from a lightsaber wound".

Bastila crossed her arms and frowned. "We are getting sidetracked. I need to see the leader of this city if only to explain our presence and make it easier to move in the open".

"The you will want to see the Viscount," Aveline stated.

"Really, Aveline, the Viscount?" Varric scoffed. "The man needs to check with Meredith is he wants to stay up past sundown".

"Be that as it may. Dumar is still the leader of this city...at least in name," she ignored the dwarf.

"Elthina is the woman you want to see," Hawke said with confidence. "She has Meredith on a leash, and she has the respect of everyone in the city".

"Speak for yourself," Ander grumbled.

Hawke rolled his eyes. "Fine, everyone in the city who's reasonable".

"Or a renegade apostate possessed by a demon," Fenris pointed out.

"Bastila and I will see the old hag," Revan announced, earning a reproving look from both Aveline and Hawke and an appreciative smile from Anders. "Kallian, you will speak with this Meredith. Kill her if necessary. I want no interference".

"Do not listen to her. Jedi do not kill wantonly, as my good friend should know," Bastila spoke sharply. "Be conciliatory and impress upon her the importance of our task here".

"I'll take you to the Gallows. The last thing I want is you people causing a scene in front of a hundred templars," Hawke said dryly. "Varric, Aveline, we'll meet up later at the Grand Cathedral".

"Try not to piss off Meredith. I already live in enough fear of that woman," Anders warned.

Fenris took Hawke by the arm as he went to leave and said, "I know that you are the trusting type, Hawke, but watch yourself".

Hawke just smiled and spoke playfully, "Oh, my dear Fenris, I didn't know you cared. I think I have a little more to worry about with the templars than our new friends".

Kallian waved and joked, "Remember to behave yourself, Revan. We need these people on our side".

"I may have a reputation for achieving the unachievable, but even I can't do the impossible, so don't ask it of me," Revan snarked back at her.

* * *

"If you please, I would like to see Knight-Commander Meredith," Kallian said to the bald templar outside the barracks of the Gallows. The mage prison was oddly quiet, only a few stoic templars and a smattering of the tranquil out in the courtyard. What mages were out averted their eyes when they passed, pretending to focus on organizing their wares at the small number of trading stalls. The Gallows stank of fear, but underneath lay a simmering anger, festering behind the thick walls of the prison. The dark side was strong here, but she did not think it was solely the result of the templars' persecution of mages. It felt like the Sith had been here once.

The templar reached out and pulled the hood back from her head, surprising her so much she could not move to stop him. She could only gape at his audacity and rudeness as he sneered, "What does an elf want with the Knight-Commander?"

His eyes were small and cold, and the way he looked at her made Kallian want to put a lightsaber through his gut right then. His mind was a trifle to sift through, but what she saw there brought back memories she would rather forget as nausea threatened to overcome her.

"Hands off, buddy," Atton growled, wrenching the templar's hand from her hood. He looked at the bald man with disgust, his own senses not refined enough to see his memories but sharp enough to feel Kallian's distress.

The templar ripped his arm from Atton's grip with a scowl, several of the templars who were watching from the sidelines creeping closer as they stared each other down. "We are Grey Wardens. We wanted to discuss the possibility of recruiting with the Knight-Commander," she spoke quickly as she saw Mira and Atton reach for their blasters out of the corner of her eye.

"Grey Wardens? That apostate from Ferelden is one of your lot...and an elf if I'm not mistaken," he said poisonously, a disconcerting smirk forming on his lips.

"Do I look like a mage?" she protested, lifting her arms to show more of her gleaming armor.

"Can't tell a mage just by looking at them," the templar chuckled as he looked her up and down. She quickly closed her cloak around her. "We're not interested in letting mages escape by joining your rogue Order anyway".

"It's not just mages we're interested in, templars too," she snapped. "Anyway, it's for the Knight-Commander to decide, not you".

"I am Knight-Captain Alrik, second only to Knight-Commander Meredith, herself. She finds my counsel quite useful in deciding difficult matters, so I would hold my tongue and remember my place if I was you, elf," he said condescendingly.

If she did not think she would utterly fail at trying a mind trick, Kallian would most definitely have employed it then. Being nice and trying to reason with this templar was not working out. "Look, pal. Shouldn't you be harassing mages or something instead of wasting our time?" an obviously exasperated Hawke spoke at her side.

"The Knight-Commander is a very busy woman, and she does not have the time or patience to entertain fools. Remove yourselves from my sight, or I will remove you forcibly," Alrik ordered.

Kallian gave Hawke a withering look, but he just shrugged and flashed her a winning smile. "Maker, for some reason these bastards just don't like me, and I'm not even using magic! It's a mystery really," he muttered to her. "But it seems that we have an in. Hey, Carver!"

Another templar looked up at his name being shouted out before his eyes fell on Hawke. His confusion immediately turned to a look of disgust, an unmistakable grimace on his face as Hawke sauntered over to him. "Little brother, it's been ages! You never write me at all!"

"What are you bloody doing here, you great fool! Do you know where you are!" the man hissed under his breath, pulling Hawke aside. "Do you have a death wish?"

"I was just scoping out the real estate," he grinned. "I might end up making this place my permanent residence if a few things don't line up".

"Sometimes I wonder if you're really crazy or just stupid. You're a mage!" the templar continued berating him.

"Hey, don't go shouting it out to everyone! How about a little discretion, huh?"

"A little discretion!" Hawke's brother seethed. "You realize you're standing in the fucking Gallows, right? Maybe you didn't notice the dozen templars standing around, but this is not the place you want to be".

"Oh, I noticed alright. Noticed a few of them checking me out. I guess those are the ones to watch out for if I ever get caught. Always heard this place was less a circle of magi and more of a Chantry run whorehouse except no one gets paid for their services," he smirked, obviously trying to provoke his brother.

"I see your still listening to Anders' rants," Carver scoffed.

"Not likely. Whenever he's talking I tend to just nod and imagine myself somewhere else, but Kirkwall templars have quite the reputation," Hawke's gaze hardened. "So Carver, taking advantage of the perks yet?"

Carver could only sputter in indignation. "If you're his brother, can you get us in to see Meredith?" Kallian asked seriously, moving to stand in front of him, not that she was a particularly intimidating personage in front of the giant, armored man.

"What do you want with the Knight-Commander, and more importantly, who's this midget?" he looked to Hawke as Kallian glared.

"Assassinate her of course," Hawke said nonchalantly. "What, you were expecting a different answer?"

"We're Grey Wardens. Your brother agreed to help us out on a mission, but first we need to see the Knight-Commander about getting recruits," Kallian announced, scowling all the while at Carver.

"You, a Grey Warden? Why don't you run back to your parents, kid?" he gave her a dismissive look.

"Hawke, may I have permission to kill your brother?" she asked sweetly.

"I'm very tempted, but sadly I can't help but love the big oaf, so I'll have to decline," Hawke gave her a regretful look.

"Can you be serious just once in your life?" Carver spat.

"I am being serious. We need to see Meredith. It's important, trust me," Hawke insisted, clasping his brother on the shoulder and staring him down.

"What do you care about Grey Warden recruiting anyway?" the templar asked suspiciously, seeing right through his brother.

"Look Carver, I'm going to be straight with you," Hawke sighed. "This city is in danger, and it involves Revan".

"The demon?" Carver whispered, looking around to see if anyone around had heard. "What do you have to do with her? Oh Maker, don't tell me..."

"I've had the...pleasure of making her acquaintance, yes," Hawke admitted with a grimace.

Carver swore loudly, attracting interested glances from the surrounding onlookers. "You do realize that every templar is instructed to kill that demon and anyone who associates with her on sight? Maker, I can't deal with this".

"Another like Revan is coming here," Kallian interrupted. "He will kill us all if he can. Meredith needs to at least be told".

"Meredith doesn't rule Kirkwall," Carver reminded them.

"Bullshit! The Viscount doesn't even have enough power to redecorate his own office without Meredith's approval!" Hawke laughed.

"Fine! Look, I might be able to get you in. Just give me a minute, alright?" he reluctantly agreed. "But remember, if you do anything crazy, it's my ass on the line too".

"Don't worry, there's a good chance we all won't be living much longer as it is," Kallian said with a grim smile. "Templars should be the least of your worries".

Carver escorted them to see the Knight-Commander later that evening, the vacant stares of tranquil servants following them down the columned hall. Everyone seemed uncomfortable, even Carver, but Hawke seemed to have nothing but fury inside as he looked upon the vacant faces of these drones. "Is this how Meredith intimidates the mages who come to see her?" he spat.

"The Knight-Commander prefers the tranquil as servants because they're efficient, or so I've heard," he remarked in an uneasy tone.

"Servants, huh? I heard you lot use them for something else myself," he said accusingly.

Carver looked like he would punch his brother, but Kallian stood between them and glared at both. "You can fight once this is done, and anyway, your brother hasn't done anything like that, Hawke; I can feel it".

"You know we're both Hawkes. You _could_ use my name," the older brother observed.

"I could, yes," she agreed.

"What do you mean you can feel it? Feel what?" Carver asked suspiciously.

"It's just a figure of speech," she lied. "When I'm around you, I don't feel like I need a bath...not like that Alrik".

When they finally arrived outside the Knight-Commander's quarters, they happened upon a rather heated argument. Carver ignored the raised voices and entered, two sets of angry eyes falling on him. "Ser Carver," Meredith said in a clipped tone. "To what do I owe this interruption?"

He saluted her and nodded at the other inhabitant of the room, a silver-haired elf wearing opulent robes and carrying an ebony staff carved to look like three dragonheads. "Knight-Commander, First Enchanter, please excuse the interruption. My brother has informed me that a few Grey Wardens wish to speak to you," he said, gesturing to the party still standing in the hall. "I was told that it was urgent they speak to you immediately".

"Meredith's eyes narrowed as she looked upon Kallian and the rest, her gaze lingering over the more exotic of their foreign garments especially Mira's rather loud armor. "Grey Wardens? Well then, speak what you have come here to say," she said, her words sounding more like an order than a request.

Kallian surreptitiously glanced at the woman from beneath her lowered hood, noting how severe she looked, her skin smooth and taut like she had never smiled in her life. Her blonde hair was streaked with a few strands of white, and she appeared aged beyond her years. Shards of ice took the place of her irises as she glared down at her, matching the frigid personality she could feel within. Although she could sense great dedication to the Chantry in her mind, perhaps bordering on fanaticism, she could also reasonably guess that Meredith would not outright attack her if she revealed herself. She would listen at least before trying to strike her down.

"You already know who I am, and I would like for you not to make a scene before I've had a chance to explain myself thoroughly," Kallian began smoothly, projecting peace in the Force. "My name is Kallian Tabris, former Grey Warden and current most wanted apostate and supposed enemy of the Chantry".

Meredith did not blink, instead shooting Carver a terrifying glare as he blanched. "Warden Tabris, I must name myself surprised. It is not often that dangerous apostates come to me, asking to be arrested," she smiled, but there was no warmth behind it, only danger.

Kallian lowered her hood and gestured to her friends, "My comrades, Atton and Mira, and the Hawke brothers as you know. I'm sure you're aware that Revan is in this city, and what I have to say has much to do with her".

"Yes, we are all aware of Revan's presence here given the unreasonable restrictions Meredith has seen fit to impose on Circle mages who have nothing to do with this," the First Enchanter grumbled.

"You have made your objections known, Orsino. Some in the Circle may feel drawn to the cause of this Revan, and it is my duty to ensure that the mages do not engage in any foolish behavior. It is for your own good," the templar said dismissively. "Now, explain yourself, apostate".

"First of all, though you will hardly believe it, I'm not a mage. The rumors of my magic ability are grossly exaggerated...mostly be my enemies in Orlais, I believe," she shrugged. "If you asked me to summon a fireball, I'd be as hopeless as you. However, I do possess a certain power called the Force, but to explain that, I'm going to have to go through a little history. Indulge me, please".

"Do as you wish," Meredith waived her hand in an uninterested way before crossing her arms again.

"Long ago, there was a great war between two nations more powerful than your wildest imagination. Warriors on each side wielded a power called the Force, but eventually one of the nations, an empire of people called the Sith was defeated, and the remnants fled far from their home. These Sith were a cruel and evil race, their empire built on the backs of slaves. They used a sick form of alchemy to warp life into monstrous forms to send against their enemies, sacrificing millions to seek the secrets of immortality. Around the same time, Tevinter was rising in the North, and unfortunately for us all, the Sith found them," Kallian began.

"This is only a guess, but the Sith were probably interested by the magic that existed on this world and tried to twist it to their own purposes. Anyway, all the legends of the Magisters who corrupted the Golden City and started the blights probably were Sith Lords experimenting with the dark side of the Force," she reasoned, knowing saying things like 'dark side' probably went right over Meredith's head.

"Did you detain me only to speak blasphemy?" Meredith questioned in a tone that seemed almost a mix between wry humor and cold seriousness. "I have no need to hear the lies of corrupted mages. I have my fill of that bile everyday".

"I don't need you to believe me, at least not right now. All I need to do is inform you that one of these Sith is coming here, and what he will do to this world will make the blight look like a rainy day in comparison," she warned.

"Coming here...to Kirkwall? What could one man possibly do? This is the center of the Chantry in the east, headquarters to a veritable army of our order," the Knight-Commander scoffed.

"He's not a man, not anymore at least. If what that old witch says is true, he's more like an avatar of death," Atton spoke up.

"A pestilence sweeping through the stars, devouring everything in his path. That's about right," Kallian nodded. "And he's not just coming to Kirkwall...Ferelden, Orlais, Antiva, Rivain, Tevinter, all of Thedas, the Qunari lands, and even nations lying far across the wastes and the great oceans will be at his mercy soon".

"As I said, no man could hope to conquer all those lands even in a lifetime. It took Tevinter generations to overcome the tribes of the South, and still our savior Andraste pushed the magisters back to their unholy city".

"What you say is true if he was bound by the limitations of this world. He does not mean to conquer peoples and countries, he means to feed upon us, draining our life-force like some kind of demon from the Fade," she tried to make her understand.

"Why is it even necessary to tell us of this supposed threat? As if you have not caused enough trouble for the mages of this city with your antics in Ferelden and your association with this 'Revan' apostate," Orsino spoke up for the first time. "Do you wish for aid in your battle? You are not likely to get it from our Knight-Commander".

Meredith gave him a warning glance for that. "The First Enchanter speaks out of turn, but he is correct for the most part. I will not suffer apostates to run free with impunity around my city. If another like Revan shows himself here, he will face the might of the strongest templar force outside Val Royeaux...as will you".

Kallian rolled her eyes and said haughtily, "You don't believe me. Fine, it was a long shot anyway. I suppose I'll have to prove it to you. I'm going to use a Force technique, and I want you to try to stop me. If it is really magic I use, I'll be drained of mana, right?"

Meredith narrowed her eyes and gripped her sword tightly, her suspicion being overwhelmed by curiosity. "Do as you wish, but take care...I am no unfamiliar with attempts on my life".

Kallian ignored her and summoned lightning to her palm, the energy crackling around her fingertips as Meredith prepared a holy smite. The antimagic field surrounded her, and for a moment Kallian felt a familiar tingling sensation on her skin. The lightning held in her hand on increased in ferocity though as she added more power to the dark side energy, and she could not help but smile as Orsino gasped and Carver gaped. Meredith, however, only looked mildly perturbed, her frown growing as the blue lightning refused to subside.

"I have heard stories from my colleagues of your extraordinary abilities," Meredith conceded. "It is not unheard of for mages to resist our techniques particularly when blood magic is involved..."

"Yeah, I slit my wrists when you weren't looking," Kallian said mockingly, dispelling the lightning. "I don't need blood. I don't need lyrium. The Force is fueled by life, connecting us all with its power".

"Even if what you say is true and you are not a mage, you are still are still accused of murdering members of my Order at Kinloch Hold and for heresy against the Chantry," the Knight-Commander pointed out coldly. "The Divine has ordered your arrest".

"The Divine is a puppet of the Orlesian Empress," Kallian scoffed. "That bitch would like nothing better than to see my head on a spike and Ferelden back in her hands. If you really think half the things the Divine does are really motivated by religious piety, then gullible doesn't even begin to describe you".

Meredith's eye twitched and for a second she looked truly mad, her lips curling back into a snarl like a rabid dog. "You dare? The Divine stands below only the Maker and His Bride, and yet a lowly, arrogant maleficar like you dares to suggest she bows before temporal rulers? Do you not fear an eternity in the Void at all?"

"I fear losing everything that I am to the real evil in this galaxy, and it is coming here. I've done my good deed by informing you. After the Sith is defeated, the Republic will come here and claim this world. Everything will change for the better, my people will finally be able to have lives untouched by fear, and you will resist it at your own peril. The future is coming Meredith; the time of the Chantry is quickly drawing to a close. What you do with what I've told you is your own business," she said in a threatening voice, turning on her heel to leave.

"Do you not hear yourself speaking? The Republic will come to claim this world? You may not be a mage, but you are clearly mad," Orsino snapped as Meredith glowered.

"There are nations outside the border of Thedas, and not all of them are as close-minded and superstitious as those under the heel of the Chantry," Kallian spat back at him, growing increasingly more incensed.

Meredith placed a hand on her sword and partly drew it, just enough so that Kallian could see the gleaming blade. "Careful, Grey Warden. I have been patient," she spoke softly, eyes glinting dangerously all the while, "but my patience is not limitless. You may not be a mage of any kind we have ever encountered, but you still have power beyond that of an ordinary individual. For that alone you would be dangerous, but I am willing to tolerate dangerous people like you going about freely as long as you abstain from becoming a threat to my city. I will not, however, have you speaking blasphemy in my presence nor will I allow you to engage in blatant sedition against the Chantry. Do you understand?"

Kallian glared at the implacable woman but merely nodded, "I understand".

"Good, then kindly refrain from making your thinly-veiled threats again," the Knight-Commander spoke imperiously. "I confess that I am surprised that you would come to me willingly. I assume you have no wish to die or to be locked away with the other mages, so I can only conclude that you are sincere in this warning you have shared with us, correct?"

"Yes," she said grudgingly. "Another member of my Order is already meeting with the Grand Cleric as we speak".

"But not the Viscount," she concluded matter-of-factly.

"She wished to inform the relevant authorities. The Viscount has no real power, so it would be worthless to inform him. Everyone knows you're the real power here," Hawke explained.

"I am aware of Viscount Dumar's perceived impotence regarding political matters. I have my predecessor to thank for that and perhaps the rumor-mongering of the small folk," she looked pointedly at the elder Hawke. "Tell me truthfully, what threat does this 'Sith' truly pose?"

Kallian wished Visas was here to explain. She knew next to nothing about Nihilus. "As I said earlier, he is like an abomination...no longer human. He absorbs life and can kill countless people with a thought. I can't really explain it well...he's too powerful to really to describe it. Imagine a blood mage draining everyone in this city only it's easy for him".

"If this man really exists, which I highly doubt, one would think that there would be stories of this kind of power," Orsino spoke derisively. Kallian glared at him, feeling that this whole conversation about blood magic made him deeply uncomfortable. Perhaps he was afraid touching on the subject would only make Meredith more adamant about cracking down on the mages.

"This Sith was at the final battle where almost all my people were destroyed. Another Sith began a...ritual that killed both her forces and ours and left the land devastated and corrupted. He's the result of it. All those lives sacrificed turned him into something monstrous," Mira spoke up.

"And your people are?" Meredith asked, narrowing her eyes at Mira's strange armor.

"Mandalorians," she crosses her arms and adopted a rebellious pose.

"They're not from around here," Atton grinned. "But most of them are dead anyway, so..."

"So Kirkwall now entertains foreigners from far-flung lands beyond the borders of Thedas. I suppose we should be honored if they had the courtesy not to bring their enemies with them," she said condescendingly to Mira. "Ser Carver, I task you with the care of our most esteemed Grey Warden. See that she does not leave the city before I have discussed this matter with her Grace".

"Knight-Commander!" Carver sputtered. "Surely someone else..."

"You were fool enough to bring her here," Meredith snapped. "You are lucky that I do not throw you and your brother into the dungeon. Consorting with heretics and apostates. Oh yes, I have heard of your exploits, Serrah Hawke!"

"And what makes you think I'll consent to this?" Kallian spoke haughtily.

"I am being lenient with you, girl," Meredith spoke coldly. "I would be within my rights to have you imprisoned until I can sort out this nonsense, but I am content to place you with a chaperone. I warn you, do not abuse my generosity. She glared at them one last time, Kallian feeling that she was considering the merits of arresting them, but she simply said, "Now leave me".

"Gladly," Kallian turned on her heel, grimacing as even she thought that sounded bratty.

They left quickly with Carver in tow, the templar looking slightly sick to his stomach. "Well little brother, looks like you're stuck with me again," Hawke grinned, placing one arm around Carver's shoulders.

"You could've gotten us both thrown in the Gallows, you bloody idiot! Has that magic of yours finally fried your brain? Who brings a wanted maleficar to meet the Knight-Commander?" he shouted, pushing his brother away.

"Hey, it went far better than I thought it would," he said with a sheepish smile.

"And in case you've forgotten, you're an apostate too! It's harder to dodge templars when you're stuck in the Gallows! I know you don't care, but you getting caught would cause a few problems for me as well!" he growled.

"Why are you complaining about what could have been? Calm down. Maker, I've forgotten what it's like having you around," Hawke grimaced. "Maybe you should've thought about what might happen to a templar with a mage for a brother. Not your smartest move".

"The Knight-Commander was too focused on me to care about the two of you. You probably could have juggled fireballs, and she wouldn't have batted an eye," Kallian spoke up.

"We've never killed any templars!" Carver seethed.

"Speak for yourself," Hawke rolled his eyes.

"Don't worry Hawke junior, I know I have something of a reputation, but I'm not going to murder you," Kallian laughed, reading some of the boy's feelings casually.

"Whatever, don't talk to me. You've already corrupted my brother," he looked away.

"Just be glad we didn't have to blast the hell out of the place," Mira laughed. "Good thing that Meredith turned out to be reasonable".

"Yeah, I know. I thought you said she was a raving, fanatical madwoman, Hawke?" Kallian snorted.

"Must be one of her better days," he shrugged.

"Or maybe not everyone from the Chantry is as evil as you'd like to think, Kallian," an accented voice said with reproach.

Kallian jumped as she felt a hand touch her shoulder, turning to see a familiar set of blue eyes framed by red hair and one signature braid. "Force, Leliana! Don't do that!" she whined, waiting for her heart to start beating normally again. "What are you doing here?"

"Sorry, I thought you would know I was around. I scarcely meant to scare you," the former bard apologized.

"I can only sense you when I'm looking for you...or if there's danger around," she complained. "It wasn't like I was expecting you or anything".

"Yes, I apologize again. I wanted to surprise you," she giggled.

"Friend of yours?" Hawke asked with a smile.

"Wait, that emblem...you're a Seeker!" Carver gasped in surprise.

Leliana looked at the templar in a bemused way before saying in that musical voice of hers, "Please be calm, Ser Knight. You have nothing to fear from me".

"A Seeker?" Hawke and Kallian said together.

"We are the right hand of the Divine. We ensure that all our brothers and sisters in the Chantry are acting as they should," she explained.

"That's not what I heard," Carver said in spit of himself as all attention turned to him. He reddened and sputtered before finally managing to get out, "I heard you lot are templar hunters".

"We do investigate the Order from time to time," she nodded her head. "Sadly, some templars turn their gaze from the Maker's light and sinfully take advantage of the power they have been given".

"You mean abusing mages," Hawke finished for her.

"Yes," she agreed, "and sometimes plotting against the very Chantry they vowed to protect. Unfortunately, it seems that the game in Orlais continues to spread to our most sacred institutions".

"Oh, you mean the Empress runs the Chantry. I am shocked!" Kallian said sarcastically as Leliana gave her a look. "Oh, before I forget..." She reached out and pulled Leliana into a hug, kissing her on the cheek. "I missed you".

"I feel the same. Your ire at the Chantry has surely not changed, and I am glad that has not come between us," she smiled.

Kallian's expression faltered and she looked down at the ground, "Leliana, about what happened back then..."

"No," she said quickly, eyes widening, "we should leave that to the past. It was not you who was responsible for what happened. I do not blame you".

"Thank you," Kallian smiled sincerely. "How did you know I was here?"

Leliana huffed in an annoyed way, "Honestly, Kallian. Have you forgotten my previous profession? Not to mention it is my duty to investigate the templar problem in Kirkwall for the Divine".

"So you are after us!" Carver accused.

"The Divine has grown increasingly concerned with the animosity between the mages and templars in this city. Murmurs of open rebellion have reached our ears, not to mention truly disturbing reports of templar excesses," she said grimly. "If we cannot trust our Maker's servants to devote themselves to lives emulating Andraste and instead seem intent on satisfying their sinful desires then what moral authority do we have?"

"Praise the Maker Anders isn't around to hear this," Hawke said dryly.

"Is that the only reason you're here?" Kallian needled.

"I knew Meredith might react badly to your presence here, so I interceded on your behalf. Even Meredith will not oppose the will of the Divine," Leliana smiled. "Officially you are my prisoner, and I am tasked with your execution if you try to escape. Obviously the Knight-Commander did not trust me if she sent one of her templars with you".

"Carver's an ass, but he won't sell us out," Hawke assured them surprisingly. Perhaps their relationship was not so strained after all.

"Spend any more time with you, and I might consider it," Carver grumbled.

"I knew the old bitch was being too accommodating," Kallian grimaced. "Thanks for that, Leliana. Fighting my way out of this place doesn't really appeal to me".

"I'm glad you didn't. So many dead templars would be difficult to explain away," she said as she gave Kallian a sharp look. "Anyway, I must tell you that I love what you've done with your hair. You were too beautiful to go around looking like a boy".

"Thanks, I guess," she smiled awkwardly, taking a few tresses in her hand and nervously twisting them around her fingers.

"And who is this? Your new paramour perhaps?" she grinned mischievously as she eyed Atton.

"A good friend," she responded warmly as Atton tried to look like he was not paying attention. "Atton and Mira are Jedi. I decided to take Revan's advice and try my luck out among the stars, but it seems that I can't leave this place quite yet".

"So you meant to leave for good?" Leliana asked.

"Not at first, but...I think I like it better out there. There's a place for me," she responded slowly, pausing for a moment to think.

"I visited Alistair recently," the Seeker spoke, leaving the statement hanging in the air. When Kallian did not respond, she continued, "Will you go to him?"

Kallian looked away, saying quietly, "I don't know".

"Do you still want to be with him?"

"I don't know," she said more forcefully, growing irritated with all the questions.

"Well if you do not hurry, the decision may well be made for you," she warned gently. "Alistair is handsome, sweet, and a king. If you wait, he may belong to another...despite what he may feel for you".

"Thanks for the advice, Leliana. I'll think about it," she said brusquely. "Let's just get to the Grand Cleric before Revan decides to fry her".

Leliana nodded, looking at Kallian with concern. She was not the only one.

* * *

Meanwhile, the meeting with the Grand Cleric was devolving from anxious tension to outright hostility. "Your Grace, I must protest! This maleficar is too dangerous to be allowed to live even a second more! She must face the Maker's justice!" the templar insisted.

"And so she shall, Ser Knight," the Grand cleric spoke calmly, giving the templar a sharp look. "She has come to us willingly, and I will not allow blood to be shed in a house of the Maker. I will listen to what she has to say".

Revan smirked cruelly at the old woman, her cold eyes glittering with dark humor as she raked them over the collection of priests and templars standing warily before her. So caught up in intimidating them was she that she actually flinched as Bastila punched her arm. Revan quickly turned to her friend only to receive a withering look and a dramatic eye roll, which she returned with a scowl.

"Thank you for being understanding," Bastila gave a little bow. "The customs of these lands of Thedas are strange to us, but it does you credit to let us explain these unfortunate events".

"Unfortunate events," one of the priests scoffed. "That demon murdered all of the templars in the Ferelden Circle".

"They attacked me. I only acted in self defense," Revan shrugged.

"A mage outside the control of the Circle has no right to life," the priest continued smugly.

"Mother Petrice, I believe I can handle this on my own," the Grand Cleric spoke sharply, cowing the woman for the moment.

"Revan is not what you call a mage," Bastila assured them. "She is a knight of the Republic and lacks this 'magic' you keep referring to. If your entire basis for seeking her arrest is based on her status as a mage, then you have no reason to continue this inquiry".

"Sebastian?" the Grand Cleric motioned to the anxious man at her side clad in garish, white armor. "You have encountered this Revan before and seen her abilities, have you not?"

"Yes, your grace. She has powers that appear to be magical in nature, but she denies that she is a mage herself. I myself experienced a violation of my mind where she forced knowledge of a language into my memories, a power that seemed remarkably similar to blood magic," he reported, the dark looks of the surrounding priests and templars growing even darker. "But I did not witness the actual sacrifice of blood necessary for a blood mage to exert such power over the mind, and when I announced that I would inform the Chantry of her presence in the city, she did not attempt to stop me".

"And there you have it! Even if she could claim self defense, using blood magic to control others is a capital offense and the gravest sin anyone could commit against our Maker," the lead templar spat, drawing his sword. "Please give me permission to execute this abomination. There can be no doubt over her sins".

The knight took a step forward and brandished his sword threateningly, but stopped as a snap hiss echoed through the columned hall. Bastila held one end of her saberstaff pointed at the man's chest, the yellow blade fizzling and humming as her diplomatic bearing suddenly became cold and threatening. The troopers behind her brought their blaster rifles to bear, the click of safeties being turned off making the standoff seem even tenser. "Not one step closer," Bastila threatened. "This woman is not yours to punish even if she was guilty of these imagined crimes".

"You...You're a mage as well!" the templar growled, not sure of what to make of the energy sword held a few inches from his neck.

"Grand Cleric Elthina, obviously this band of apostates need not be given the protection sanctuary entails. They have sullies this house of the Maker with their presence. They must face the Maker's justice," Mother Petrice urged.

"You have no authority over us! Revan's alleged crimes occurred in Ferelden, not to mention that Revan is a citizen of the Republic and outside your jurisdiction. What right does an extrajudicial, religious body have to judge us?" Bastila argued, her tone dripping with condescension. Revan could only smile, as she had been wondering how long it would take for the prideful, arrogant Bastila to reveal herself. "I have come before you as a simple courtesy and nothing more!"

"You dare to speak to beloved servants of the Maker like this?!" Petrice shouted in a shrill tone.

"Only to my inferiors when they show a marked lack of respect for their betters," Bastila snapped as Revan smirked with glee. "A knight need not deign to bandy words about with fools".

Mother Petrice seemed ready to explode, her face turning red and her lips curling back, but the Grand Cleric put an end to any outburst she may have been planning. "Mother Petrice, Knight-Lieutenant Karras, be silent! And put away your weapons, all of you! The Maker's gaze is upon you! Have you no shame?" she stated severely, her voice giving away a slight sense of aggravation. "Ser Bastila, I would remind you that you have come before us asking for clemency for a wanted criminal and suspected blood mage. Acting haughty and making demands of us is not a prudent way of settling disputes amicably, as you are aware, and certainly not through the drawing of weapons here of all places".

Bastila frowned but relented, returning the hilt of her saber to her belt as the others lowered their own weapons. "I apologize. I let my temper get the better of me," she composed herself.

"Sebastian, you are the only one among us who has spent any significant time around the apostate and accused maleficar, Revan. Is she truly the monster the incident at the Ferelden Circle would give us reason to believe?" she asked.

"Grand Cleric, you cannot be seriously considering..." Ser Karras began protesting before being abruptly silenced.

"Ser Karras, hold your tongue. These people tell me that the apostate Revan is not guilty of the crimes she stands accused of and insist that she is not a mage. Obviously, I cannot simply accept their testimony as the truth, and Sebastian is the only one among us who can in some sense corroborate their version of events. I need to hear his account _without interruption_, and I will not make a decision before. Is that clear?" the old woman spoke like a mother scolding her child.

"Yes, your grace," the cowed templar inclined his head. Elthina then motioned for Sebastian to speak.

"I was unaware of who she was when I followed Revan under the city. There was something sealed there, left behind from when Tevinter magisters used Kirkwall as the center of the slave trade. Revan wanted to find this...demon, I suppose it was, and destroy it. She did so. Blood mages are not usually so adamant about destroying demons," he conceded. "The way she manipulated my mind, and the minds of my comrades though, I don't see how it could be anything but blood magic. I do not think she is evil though...misguided maybe. I cannot say that I have not encountered apostates before, even blood mages, who tried to do good".

"Blasphemy," Mother Petrice muttered under her breath.

Elthina narrowed her eyes but did not comment, suspecting that he was referring to the motley group the young Amell heir surrounded himself with. "And have you anything to say on the subject, Ser Bastila?"

Bastila looked to Revan who shrugged and then back to the Grand Cleric. "Knights of the Republic all wield the Force," she stated, closing her eyes and levitating her lightsaber to her hand. "We are all connected through its power, our minds as one. With a thought, I can exert my will over anything. The Force is with me".

Bastila held her lightsaber suspended before her, the two ends activating and casting her face in an otherworldly glow. Her arms were outstretched and her eyes closed, her expression meditative, as the others stood transfixed at the display. Revan stepped forward then, and she aid, "Bastila saved my life, forging a bond between us through the Force. I can feel her as if her body was my own. Our thoughts, emotions, and senses are all shared. The power of the Force is power over the mind, not something so crude as controlling someone using blood".

"You cannot understand our power because you have never experienced it. You may deny it or name us something we are not, but the Force is what gives us life, and no sentence you may pronounce can change that," Bastila finished for Revan.

"Quite the haughty bunch," Aveline said under her breath from her place behind the so-called aliens.

"Hey, when you can summon a fire sword that can cut through steel, you can act however you want in my opinion," Varric whispered back to her. Hawke insisted the pair accompany their guests to the cathedral, probably hoping that they would keep them from doing anything stupid. If Hawke was not such a good friend and the ale at the Hanged Man was not so piss poor, Varric would not be here facing the scrutiny of these fanatical nuts.

"Having a lightsaber doesn't give you the right to act like an egotistical jerkass, but it seems to come standard with most Jedi," Atton scoffed as both Aveline and Varric jumped in surprise. Looking behind, they saw Kallian waving at them surrounded by her two friends and a rather pretty woman with armor bearing a painted white eye.

"Andraste's saggy tits! Don't sneak up on me like that!" Varric caught his breath, placing a hand over his heart as he calmed down.

"I figured you for a rogue, dwarf," Kallian frowned. "What kind of rogue gets caught unawares?"

"Excuse me for paying attention to a potential melee in the making here," he shot back. There's a lot of templars here and Bianca only has so many bolts to go around. I like to be prepared".

"Well you are here and unhurt. I assume your meeting with the Knight-Commander went well?" Aveline asked.

"Nah, she was too annoying so I killed her," Kallian grinned as Aveline looked stricken and Varric face palmed. "Just kidding. She's fine...unfortunately. My friend managed to get us an in".

Both sighed in relief and then turned their attention to the red-haired woman with the fancy armor. "That eye, you're a Seeker, right?" Varric asked, thinking how this situation could become so impossibly complicated.

"Yes. Fortunately my position gives me some authority over the Templar Order; even one perched as high as Knight-Commander Meredith. She will not go against me as long as I act with the will of the Divine".

"Letting people like Revan run free is the will of the Divine?" Aveline raised an eyebrow.

"Well...no, but Revan is dangerous; I know since I once traveled with her. Good people of the Chantry, loyal templars and devout sisters, will give their lives to ensure she faces justice, but none of them would survive if they challenged her," Leliana spoke gravely. "Besides it would be a betrayal of Kallian to stand as her enemy now. The Maker would understand".

"Whatever you say," Varric shot Aveline a look before shaking his head. "I guess the Chantry takes all sorts...even the crazy ones".

"Especially the crazy ones apparently," Aveline spoke under her breath, flicking her eyes in the direction of Mother Petrice.

"It seems more blasphemers have come to face the Maker's judgment," the woman in question pointed out, bringing the other's attention to Kallian's group. "Serah Hawke, I told you before that only those who walk in the light of our Maker shall prosper. It seems my advice has been ignored, however, first qunari, now these maleficarum? It is one thing to associate with heretical vermin but enemies of our beloved Andraste and our almighty Maker? How do you explain this grievous sin?"

"Mother Petrice," Hawke grimaced before forcing himself to smile. "Many nights have I imagined looking upon your stunning features since our last meeting before I bashed in the face of some random mercenary instead".

"Your Grace, did you hear these vile threats this beast of a man has spoken to me," she turned to the Grand Cleric looking like a smug snake, not even trying to look remotely fearful.

The old woman gave the priest a withering look before addressing the newcomers; "It has been some time since you have joined us, my wayward child. I wish it could have been under better circumstances. You have brought much trouble to this house of our Maker, young man".

"Forgive me, your Grace," he inclined his head respectfully. "I find it difficult to decline the requests of those who've traveled with me. I hardly think that the Maker would cast a disapproving eye on helping one's friends never matter what they are".

"That is certainly true," Sebastian spoke up in his defense, earning an appreciative nod from Hawke in return.

"My dear child, I do not doubt the your honor nor your integrity. It seems the greater desire in us to do right often only invites greater challenges given to us from our Maker," she spoke calmly, looking very tired and almost older. "To betray a friend even though that friend has committed the greatest sin against our lord or betray her as did Maferath and be accursed. Sometimes I envy Meredith. To her, the world is simple. Good and evil are as different and clearly defined as day and night. I am not comforted by such certainty, unfortunately".

Elthina closed her eyes for a moment and breathed deeply like she needed to prepare herself for what she was about to say. "Despite your friends' insistence that Revan should be allowed to go free, I must point out that she is an accused murderer and a known enemy of the Chantry. More troubling is her and her companion's use of magic, by whatever name they might call it. Even if you claim to be from another nation and important officials of its government, allowing those with magic to walk free is anathema to Chantry teaching. Could you not consent to remain under guard until such time as we can arrange transport with your nation such that innocents would not be in danger?"

"Grand Cleric!" the lead templar exclaimed. "You cannot be serious about actually letting them escape? They are maleficarum who readily admit to poisoning the minds of others. They must face justice".

"Nor can you be serious about forcing us to stay here as your prisoners, _your Grace_, Kallian spoke caustically. "You could not hold us first of all, and second of all, your insinuation that we would be a danger to anyone is frankly insulting. How dare..."

"Kallian, shut your mouth," Revan snapped, sending a glare her way.

"Kallian! Kallian Tabris! Your Grace, look at the monsters these heretics have dragged into our midst! We cannot suffer any of them to live," Petrice said shrilly.

"We mean you no harm," Bastila threw up her arms in a placating gesture. "We have only come here to craft an understanding between our peoples. Our powers are not a danger to you".

Atton snorted at that and all eyes turned to him. "Why don't you tell them the truth," he smirked, but his eyes held no humor. "You could make them agree with a simple wave of your hand. Hell you could erase this whole meeting from their minds or make them into slaves without even trying. You Jedi always making yourselves out to be these moral paragons, but in reality you just hit the genetic lottery and got the most powerful weapon in the galaxy. You're everything they should fear. How many people did you kill serving under Malak, huh Bastila? Or you Revan, murder any children lately?"

"Oh poor Atton," Revan mocked. "Tortured a few Jedi into insanity and now he blames it on me. Or is it the Force you blame, weakling?"

Atton bristled but Kallian held him back. "Leave him alone, Revan. You're not helping things," she warned before looking at Atton, "and neither are you". She paused a moment before meeting the gaze of the Grand Cleric and continuing, "What Atton says is correct though. The Force is a formidable weapon against the weak minded, and there are those with the power to dominate even the strong willed".

Hawke could only face palm at the admission and Varric whispered, "Not the smartest move there".

Karras' face turned a rather spectacular shade of red at her words and he roared with fury, "Your Grace, you must not listen to any more of this vile filth! These maleficarum have clearly come here to subvert the Chantry in Kirkwall! They have consorted with demons and probably have been driven to madness. Give me leave to destroy them, I beg you!"

"Ser Karras..." Elthina warned, her voice tight before she noticed the red-haired woman standing behind the tense group. "Sister Leliana, it is good that you have come".

They could hear the relief in her voice as the Seeker stepped forward, genuflecting in front of the Grand Cleric before saying, "Forgive me for my lateness, your Grace. Knight-Commander Meredith proved quite intractable on the subject, but she reluctantly agreed to stay her sword for the moment and leave these people to me".

"It is good that you have managed to convince her. Meredith has always been rather fiery, always acting first and thinking second," the Grand Cleric smiled.

"The Divine does not wish for Kirkwall to be razed all to find one woman, even one as notorious as Revan," Leliana chuckled. I have spoken to her personally, and she remains rather vexed that those in the east remain so focused on one apostate while neglecting their duty to spread the word of the Maker".

Mother Petrice scoffed, "You claim to know the mind of the Divine? Who are you to make such a bold claim?"

"I am her servant and protector. I act as her eyes and right hand outside of Orlais, and what I see would greatly disturb her," Leliana shot back.

"You are a Seeker," Karras pointed out in a voice tinged with fear.

"Indeed," she nodded. "With your leave, your Grace, I will take custody of the apostate Revan".

"You may, my child. Maker guide your sword to those who would flee His justice," she said, sounding relieved to be rid of this situation.

"Before you even start, my good templar, Revered Mother," Leliana held up her hand as both opened their mouths to voice objections. "Final word over this apostate's fate lies with the Divine, and I speak with her voice. You will do nothing to interfere with my decision, or the Maker's wrath, channeled through His instrument the Divine, will surely find you".

Without another word, Leliana approached Revan and grabbed her arm, pulling her along with her as the baffled group exited the Chantry.

"Well that was kind of anticlimactic," Atton pointed out.

"The Grand Cleric must keep up appearances. It would not do to side publicly with wanted apostates when the Templar Order holds such power in Kirkwall. The hardliners will not question my jurisdiction in the matter. Being a Seeker has its advantages after all..." Leliana smirked.

"Bastila," Kallian spoke up, "can you hail the shuttle? I need to make a quick trip to Denerim".

"We do not have much time," the Jedi warned.

Kallian grimaced and turned her golden eyes to the gray sea. "I know. I shouldn't be long".

* * *

Visas Marr waited in her quarters for the return of Lux and the wayward handmaiden, her thoughts split between the Jedi and the vague sense of dread growing in the back of her mind. Her master was growing more impatient, his need to consume the power of other Force users having long since grown from compulsion to an unbreakable addiction. He must have located suitable prey, as his obsession threatened to crowd out the part of her that was not simply a tool for him to use.

Their ship had become far emptier recently, only the Iridonian and T3 remaining from their original party. Darth Traya, who to her surprise claimed to have trained her own master, had killed the last of the Jedi Council and fled. The dark Jedi Kallian was still missing, but she knew the Force would draw her back to them. Destiny dictated that they must meet again. The Mandalorian and the scoundrel had left with her were apparently slain, but she knew a Sith would not dispose of those gifted with the Force so casually. Perhaps Traya hoped to set them against her own master. Masters and apprentices had warred with each other since the ancient ones first discovered the Force, and the cleverer ones preferred to fight by proxy. If that were indeed her plan, it would all be for naught. Her master could not be defeated by either Jedi or Sith, no matter how strong. Their greatest strength was her master's greatest weapon against them.

The other Mandalorian, their leader, had also left, resolving to rally their rebuilt fleets and find the legendary Revan. They would join them after they recovered the Echani. She could not help feeling a sense of disquiet whenever she looked on that one even though she knew it was not her place to harbor such feelings. She had no right to feel jealousy as the distance between her and Lux was as great as the void between stars. He had spared her life and treated her kindly, but they were not close, perhaps not even friends. She was always unsure when it came to relationships, wishing that those she dealt with would make the nature of the connection between them clear. It was easier with Darth Nihilus. He was the master and she was the servant. The ties that bound them together were clear and defined. The issue was moot anyway. She knew how the Exile and the Echani looked at each other and what it meant.

The pair in question arrived back at the ship sooner than she expected. The Echani did not hide her disdain for her, bristling as soon as Visas appeared before them. She looked as if she wanted to say something, but Lux gave her a warning look, and she quickly stalked off to the cargo hold. The Exile's eyes followed her as she left, his brown eyes filled with sympathy and worry. "Is everything well?" she asked quietly, hiding her face behind her hood. She should have waited for him to address her.

"She's lost her sisters and a woman who was like a mother to her," he answered reluctantly before his tone grew hard. "The work of Sith".

"I am sorry," she shrank back, expecting to be berated for her past allegiance.

She should have known that Lux was not like that, as he simply sighed and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Not your fault. You have nothing to be sorry for," he assured her. "It might be better is you stay away from her for a bit. She needs time to heal".

"You are afraid she might lash out at me, blaming me for her loved one's deaths," Visas surmised.

"Yes. It was Kallian who murdered Atris, and Bri...the handmaiden always warned me that she could not be trusted. This tragedy has only reinforced her beliefs that those who have touched the darkness in the past are forever tainted. It's better if you stay away from her for the time being," he explained.

"I understand but...you seem unsure about...forgive me; it is not my place," she grimaced, chiding herself for speaking out of turn again.

"Hey, we're all friends here, Visas," he smiled. "I don't know what it was like with your old master, but you can ask me anything you want".

It shocked her that he could say such a thing so easily. Was he being truthful or was his declaration of friendship just empty words? Again she regretted her difficulty in reading the intentions of others despite the insight her Force seeing gave her. She supposed her ability to connect with others was stunted due to the influence of her master. For years, he was all she had, so in other words, she had no one. "I'm sorry, Exile. I just seemed that you do not believe that Revan's apprentice was truly the one who killed the Jedi Master," she said hesitantly.

"No, she almost certainly killed her. I just don't know what her intentions were. Maybe this is what Kreia wants, for us to lose ourselves in this web of schemes. As long as we don't know what happened on Korriban, we're pretty much in the dark. I need to talk with her," he stated forcefully, unable to hide the troubled look in his eyes.

"Perhaps she has gone where Revan waits along with my master," she suggested.

"Now there's a party," he joked. "One that I don't plan to be late to. You should rest. We could be heading into a whole lot of trouble".

He left her to head to the bridge, leaving her alone with the dark thought that threatened to overcome her mind. She felt the old fear that plagued her, a skull mask, black robes, and the endless wastes of a dead planet. "Master..." she whispered.

* * *

Nihilus stood on the bridge of the _Ravager_, his mind consumed with anticipation as his flagship moved ever closer to the hidden enclave of Jedi. Every thought was of how soon he would finally be able to satiate his hunger, to fill the empty fissure in his being. With these last Jedi, he would finally be made whole. One more planet. Just one more. Then he would be replete with unimaginable power.

It began over the cursed fifth planet, this unquenchable desire, but he knew that his longing would soon be at an end. One more planet, and he could finally move to assert his power over the galaxy. As Dark Lord of the Sith, he would crush the Republic and rule over the greatest empire the galaxy had ever seen. Just these few Jedi, and he would be complete.

Yes, just one more planet filled with Force sensitives. Just the one. "_But why stop there_?" he thought, his hunger growing at the thought of more Force users to consume. "_No, that's wrong_," he thought, confusion rising in his ruined mind. "_Just the one, and the void within me will disappear_".

His head bobbed imperceptively as he agreed with his own assessment. "_Yes, just one more_," he thought with longing. "_And then another and another and another..._"

* * *

**A/N: I am very sorry about the delay in updating. Nothing I wrote for this chapter satisfied me, and I guess I just lost the desire to write for a while there. This chapter is very long even after I cut some unfinished sections out, so I thought about splitting it, but I think it is best to just get it out there. Next chapter should be about Kallian in Denerim and hopefully Nihilus' arrival. Thanks to everyone who reads and reviews. About Kreia being Brianna's mother, the game seems to suggest she might be since Mical states that Arren Kae was Revan's first master while Kreia is also stated to be Revan's first master. Also, some of Kreia's lines seem to imply that Brianna is her child. **


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